Back to the Beginning
by Scenic Sakura
Summary: Sakura has been severely poisoned during the ninja war. There is no time to create an antidote as she finds out that one of her friends are in grave danger...but who would've guessed that Sakura would end up back at square one after a fateful encounter? Join Sakura, Itachi and Kakashi on their personal mission to rewrite history. [[TimeTravel Fic]] {{PLEASE REVIEW}}
1. Proceedings

Sakura was breathing in an irregular pattern. Her eyelids were heavy as the effects of the foreign poison invaded her bloodstream sooner than she had anticipated.

She inwardly cursed herself for being so reckless while slowly bringing her head back, softly resting it on a tree.

Sakura hadn't realised just how long she was standing there before an extremely battered Choji arrived on scene with Shikamaru supporting him, holding him by the waist with the opposite arm clinging around his shoulder.

"Shikamaru...Where's Ino?" Sakura's weak voice cracked. Shikamaru focused his attention onto Sakura.

He could instantly tell that she was in no fit condition to be on the battlefield...however, the guilt of abandoning his team mate was eating at him.

"She's fighting a rogue nin, two hundred feet to the west." He answered plainly, struggling to keep Choji upright.

Sakura winced at the pain of the poison in her system as she started to walk west.

It took a while but her walking gradually turned into running. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire. Her brain pulsed painfully against her skull with every step she took, however Sakura was determined to get to Ino to help.

Being careful to avoid any major damage as weapons flew by her face and body, she reached Ino...

...she was too late.

Before Sakura could even inhale her next breath, an unfamiliar pink haired shinobi decapitated Ino right in front of her.

Ino's head fell to the ground with a loud 'thump' before it rolled ever so slightly to the side, exposing her pale and lifeless face to Sakura.

Ino's body fell harshly on the ground a few moments later, blood shooting out of her neck and onto the damp ground beneath her, creating a puddle of blood within seconds.

Sakura had to fight every urge to recklessly engage in battle, Sakura had rule she stuck by…Which included a basic analysis of her enemy.

"Who the hell are you, you bastard?!" Sakura grunted.

The man standing in front of Ino's body wore a long, white lab coat over a basic set of green shinobi gear. His face didn't show any sign of emotion as he spoke.

"It's sad that you don't remember me." His voice travelled with the wind and it entered Sakura's body.

The sound of his voice didn't sit well with her. Sakura's body shivered slightly, causing her to almost lose her balance.

"I've never seen your face in my whole life." Sakura responded, trying to plan ahead.

' _If he's interested in continuing a dialogue with me. I could catch him off guard and kill him in one hit…I only have enough chakra for one hit…'_ Sakura thought to herself as she leads her body with her left side, closing in on her enemy very slowly…

"Of course you haven't...you were too young back then. I'm your older Brother." He claimed as he raised his arms frantically.

Sakura eyed him cautiously while taking a few more steps in his direction.

"I don't have a brother," She started to reply. "Who are you really?" Sakura spoke slowly, a numbing sensation hitting her body as her chest vibrated under her deep tone.

"I am who I say I am...I'm here to give us a better start. Even a bat could tell that you're dying, why don't you hear me out before you get all flustered?" The strange man questioned.

Sakura stopped walking towards him before un-expectantly leaning against a nearby tree for support as an extraordinary amount of pain shot through her body.

"You just killed my friend." She stated obviously through gritted teeth, darkness engulfing her presence.

"Hear me out," the man repeated before pacing around Ino's lifeless body. "Our parents messed up...big time. Seeing you not recognise me breaks my heart, it really does…" The man spoke in an almost sarcastic manner. "But, it also proves that you weren't told the truth. Here's my deal." He wasted no time in getting to the catch. "We both originate from the Haruno clan...you don't know it yet but we've got the ability to manipulate time." He continued, Sakura raised her head and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her brain. "I want to travel back in time. With you."

"Travel back in...you're talking out of your ass." Sakura tried to rationalise what she was hearing. When she couldn't come to a reasonable thought she started to walk towards the strange man again, this time keeping her guards up.

Sakura wasn't sure whether the poison was taking over her logical mindset or if the man in front of her was really her brother that she could trust.

"It's true, I studied this my whole life...the moment our parents abandoned me in the disposal unit, I wanted to take my revenge...the only thing I need is your chakra, Sakura." The man continued while walking towards Sakura somewhat menacingly.

Sakura grew weaker by the second...She was becoming hopeless as another pulse of pain shot through her body.

"Look here, Asshole..." She panted through pained breaths. "Even if I did believe you, I wouldn't help you. You don't look anything like my parents."

The man's smirk tugged at the side of his mouth.

"Wouldn't be a Haruno if you weren't thorough..." the man started as he paced about again. "My deal is so simple that even a goldfish could carry it out. You must look for me. Your top priority is finding me. Deal?"

Sakura started coughing harshly. It took her a few moments to regain composure.

"What do you mean by that?" She questioned gingerly. Before Sakura could reach the man, He started briskly walking towards her in an arrogant demeanour.

"Well-" He chuckled as he started his sentence, although this was the perfect time for Sakura to strike.

She raised her arm and pulled it back before infusing what chakra she had left into her right fist. Springing it forwards, her punch hit the enemy at such a speed he went flying back into one of the trees, the impact of his body snapping the tree in two.

Sakura collapsed on the ground. She tried to get up but her efforts were futile. She was sure that the punch would have hit his head at such a force that his brain would be damaged from the speed at which it would have hit his skull at.

"That wasn't nice..." the man stood up from the attack and started to power walk over to Sakura, kicking Ino's head along the way. "I'm not quite sure the forbidden jutsu will work without a willing test rat…but your possible death will mean nothing to me." He muttered on while kneeling to Sakura's height.

"Rot in hell." Sakura struggled to say, causing the strange man to laugh.

"Ah, C'mon. Don't be so sour." He started while taking out a deep blue scroll. "Hope you don't mind but I'm going to do a spot of reading." He continued. Sakura tried to infuse chakra that wasn't there, resulting in her body shutting down. She lied quietly on her back, trying to focus on breathing.

The man took out, what looked like, black paint and mimicked the symbol that was seen in the scroll on Sakura's stomach. Sakura flinched as he traced the lines on her.

She let out a gurgle as blood started to fill her lungs.

"W-What are you doing?" She questioned, attempting to strike a hit at the man, her efforts allowed her to rest her hand through his arm instead.

"I'm sending you back in time. Or not. This jutsu was created by and intended for the sole use of the Uchiha Clan." He bored. "I stole it and I don't want to risk dying, so what better way to help my own sister out by sending her back in time before she dies by poison." He sarcastically chortled before removing a small necklace shaped into a small up-side-down heart.

The string was black, but the heart was made of a brilliant blue glass. Something seemed to stir inside the heart. Sakura concluded that it looked like smoke.

"A souvenir," He stated before placing it around her head. "If this forbidden scroll works like it should do, this will travel back with you…" He stated more to himself as he pushed his right hand onto Sakura's stomach and his left hand on the scroll.

Sakura started to lose consciousness, but not before she noticed a new chakra signature. It was a powerful one, causing Sakura's curiosity to keep her awake to see who it could be. Her hopes were high, thinking that it could be friendly, but she frowned to find out it was Itachi…who looked worse for wear. Sakura noticed that his eyes looked abnormal.

Itachi wasted no time in pulling out a katana and speeding towards the strange man in front of Sakura.

"Don't forget to find me, or else there will be trouble." He informed her, ignoring the obvious sound of Itachi getting closer. The man forced both of his hands down, causing Sakura to painfully become super alert of her surroundings while grunting in pain.

Itachi had struck his weapon. His sword went right through the man's heart and, to Sakura's surprise, entered her throat.

The scenery around her grew dark. Sakura knew that this was it. She'd be joining Ino very soon. The very moment that thought crossed her mind, a dangerous red chakra dispersed itself from the centre of the scroll before pulsing a few times.

Sakura felt a strange sensation as she involuntarily closed her eyes. She suddenly felt dizzy, but not for long as she felt the sensation of falling.

She greedily gasped in the air around her as her body hit the ground with a soft 'thud'. She hesitantly opened her eyes to be pleasantly surprised with the view.

She was in the training grounds. Her body didn't feel quite right but she felt a wave of relief hit her as she took in the moment to breathe without pain, her chakra levels were ridiculously high.

She looked around the field to see an ANBU squad in training. Not quite understanding what just happened, Sakura stood up and started to trip over herself trying to get to the squad. One of the members looked like Kakashi, and that's who Sakura wanted to talk to the most.

"Watch out!" a concerned male voice came from a man behind a weasel mask. Sakura looked at her surroundings and quickly realised that a ball of lightening was heading in her direction.

Reflexes taking over Sakura's body, she instinctively reared her arm before infusing it with chakra and punched the ground. The attack seemed to strike quicker than Sakura was used to but the impact was the same as usual.

The ground cracked beneath her feet, chunks of dirt flew up, protecting Sakura from the lighting attack.

After her attack settled, the three ANBU members stood in shock. Sakura didn't understand why until she suddenly realised how tall these people were in comparison to her.

Sakura looked down and was met with her 9-year-old self. She took a steady breath in to calm herself down before noticing a long necklace on herself. It felt comforting even though she didn't know where it came from.

"Um…Hi?" Sakura spoke, being annoyed that a pathetic childlike voice came out of her mouth rather than the one she grew fond of.

"You're from our village…" Kakashi stated before crouching down to Sakura's height. "Where are your parents?" He asked in a patronising tone.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips to adopt an authoritive stature, however it resulted in her looking like a kid with an attitude.

"I can handle myself." She spoke carefully, eying the other ANBU. Her eyes locked onto the guy who was wearing a weasel mask. She rummaged through her mind for the information she read while sneaking through Tsunade's archives to recognise who he was, although she couldn't quite find what she was looking for.

"What's going on here? I felt the ground shake." The Hokage spoke as he ran onto the training ground.

"That would be the doings of this girl." A female spoke, Sakura didn't really focus on what was being said as she saw the Hokage in front of her. Her eyes covered in water, she was finally convinced that she was in the past as the once dead Hokage approached her.

"And who might you be?"

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 _A/N: Thank you for reading ^_^ please leave feedback so I can make you reading experience more enjoyable!_


	2. Purpose

Sakura looked up at the Hokage, tears threatening to fill her eyes. She figured that if the Hokage was alive, then it must mean that so many more of her friends are alive in this world too. Sakura stood still, contemplating how much she should say before she spoke. She understood that if she freaked everyone out with things that hasn't happened in this world yet that they would think she was a spy or something ridiculous like that.

"Sakura! There you are honey!" Mebuki, Sakura's mother, ran onto the field and knelt to her daughter. "There was an earthquake just now, are you alright?"

Sakura nodded and gave her mother a reassuring smile.

"This one your kid, Mrs Haruno?" Kakashi spoke, snapping Mebuki's attention away from Sakura.

"Yes," She replied while standing up and shielding her kid, not that Sakura needed any protection. "I apologise that she interrupted…whatever it is you're doing." She continued while grabbing onto Sakura's hand. "C'mon honey, let's get you back to school."

"Are you aware that your daughter created that momentary earthquake?" The Hokage informed Mebuki before she started to walk off. She let go of Sakura's hand.

"That was you, Sakura?" Mebuki looked down at her child, who looked up at her with experienced eyes…Eyes that Mebuki saw once as innocent. Mebuki questioned why she didn't notice this in Sakura before.

Itachi stood forwards and knelt to Sakura's height. Before he could speak Sakura decided it was her turn to talk.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't patronise me by bending down to my height. I can understand you perfectly fine when you're standing straight." Sakura spoke. Itachi chuckled before standing up.

"Of course," He started while looking down at the gutsy nine-year-old in front of him. "Who trained you, Sakura?" He questioned, a patronising tone laced in his voice as a habit. Itachi was used to speaking to his younger brother in this way.

Sakura shuffled uncomfortably at the question that was asked. What could she possibly say that wouldn't raise any suspicions?

"I've been training myself…Ugh." Sakura started, her childish voice making her sentence sound like a blatant lie. "I saw the legendary Sanin limited edition training book! And I want to be just like Tsunade!" Sakura faked childish excitement in her voice, only really fooling her mother.

"Mebuki…can I have your permission to take Sakura for the day? I plan to asses her skills. It seems as if she may be way too advanced for our current education system." The Hokage questioned and informed.

Mebuki hesitated in answering as she looked from Sakura to the Hokage.

"Please don't go too hard on her. She's only nine." She reluctantly agreed as she pulled Sakura into her all too familiar hug, feeling proud of her daughter who was being recognised by the Hokage.

Sakura felt her body envelope in warmth briefly before Mebuki let her go and kissed her on the forehead.

"Be good, Sakura. I'm making your favourite for dinner tonight!" Mebuki informed as she swiftly left the training ground.

Sakura then turned her attention back to the three ANBU shinobi and the Hokage.

"What kind of tests are you going to put me through?" Sakura questioned, looking forward to undergoing assessments with the knowledge and skill from her 18-year-old self.

"Don't worry, it's not going to be too difficult." The Hokage said before standing by the three ANBU. "I'd like you to select one shinobi to spar with."

All three ANBU members turned their heads in disbelief at what the Hokage has just said. Sakura smiled at the challenge.

"Okay," she started, eying up Kakashi and Itachi equally. "I want to fight him." Sakura stated as she pointed to the stoic Uchiha.

The Hokage signalled the other members of the squad to the side of the field as Itachi studied Sakura's posture.

' _She's short, so she will be slow. Maybe it's her power that makes up for the lack of speed she possesses. She doesn't look like anything special_ ' Itachi thought to himself as Sakura clicked her knuckles.

"I'll allow you to make your move first." Sakura informed as she innocently held both her hands in front of each other as if to surrender.

Unsure on how much effort Itachi should use on the nine-year-old, he darted up to her and prepared to kick her. But only at a force which he used when he was sparing his younger brother. But as soon as the kick came into contact with Sakura, Itachi knew something was up.

Sakura had used a substitution jutsu, a log appeared in Sakura's place. Before Itachi could regain his balance, Sakura had emerged from above with her hands coated in a thin layer of Chakra, as if to take the form of a flat knife.

She swiped at Itachi and managed to cut a few inches off his hair as he was _just_ able to move out of the way in time.

Sakura had a wobbly landing, but regained her balance quick to strike Itachi again.

He hadn't expected Sakura to be moving so fast as the first swing cut at his chest plate, creating an inch-deep scratch through the metal. But every other attempt to strike Itachi ended up being dodged or blocked. It was quite humorous for Kakashi to watch. Itachi getting attacked by a small pink haired child, as she had to jump between her steps to try and strike at Itachi's vital points.

Sakura reared her left fist and infused a small amount of chakra into it before throwing her hand forwards. Itachi swiftly moved to the side and decided he would use his katanas. His arms rushed to grab the handles of the katanas, but before he could unsheathe his weapons, Sakura landed a brutal kick to Itachi's side, cracking a few of his ribs as he flew to the side. Sakura ran up to strike him again until she realised that her opponent wasn't fit to fight as he was gasping for air.

"Ah shit." Sakura cussed before kneeling down and hovering her hands over his ribs, a soft green glow surrounding her hands.

Itachi looked at Sakura, wondering what it was that she was doing. A comforting warmth entered his body while she moved her hands up and down his chest.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The Hokage's voice boomed across the training field, but not loud enough to make Sakura jump.

"I'm just fixing up his bones." Sakura said before realising that Tsunade had yet to publicise her technique to the hidden leaf. Sakura apologised to Tsunade in her mind as Itachi started breathing at a regular pace.

"How interesting..." The Hokage spoke, taking in Sakura's technique.

"So, a little pink haired brat bested you, Itachi Uchiha, of all people." Kakashi laughed as he took off his mask.

Sakura suddenly stopped healing the man she injured.

' _That's why the mask looks familiar…That's Itachi!'_ she thought to herself as she glared at him. Itachi removed his mask to meet Sakura's emerald eyes with his own.

"I suggest you shut your mouth, you old pervert." Sakura retorted while turning to face Kakashi. "I could beat you too, with my hands tied behind my back." Sakura couldn't help but snap back at Kakashi. Sakura absolutely hated being called a 'brat.'

"Is that a challenge?" He questioned, walking over to Sakura and towering over her.

"For you it would be," Sakura smirked as she riled up her old Sensei, curious to see his reaction.

"Okay, let's put your words into play." Kakashi said as he took off his right sleeve. Sakura held her wrists out. The other kunoichi still hiding behind her mask shuffled uncomfortably.

"Um...I don't think that's necessary Kakashi." She voiced her thoughts. Sakura merely smiled at her.

"It's okay lady, I'll entertain _Kakashi_ for a while. I don't want his over-inflated ego to get in the way of anything else in life." Sakura half-reassured the kunoichi as the ANBU member stood by the Hokage's side.

"Is this okay...?" She questioned him. The Hokage nodded. Itachi stood up, swaying slightly as a small amount of pain radiated from his ribcage.

"Whoa...that's tied up really tight. How will I ever hope of defeating you now?" Sakura giggled as Kakashi finished tying her up.

"I won't go easy on you, I'm not as merciful as Itachi is." Kakashi warned as Sakura scoffed involuntarily. The thought of Itachi being even somewhat compassionate was something that Sakura didn't understand.

Sakura promptly hopped over her arms like a skipping rope before aiming her first kick for Kakashi's shins, he dodged the attack and jumped back a few metres. Sakura smiled to herself. Fighting Kakashi brought back good memories.

Kakashi lifted his headband and activated his Sharingan.

"Now that's just cheating..." Sakura muttered to herself as she sped towards Kakashi. Intricately dodging the multiple shuriken he threw her way, Sakura jumped into the air. She absolutely had to land a hit. There's no possible way for her to dodge any quick attacks that Kakashi would be able to land.

Sakura braced herself for impact as she kicked in Kakashi's direction. Kakashi dodged most of the attack as Sakura's feet grazed his right arm, causing him little pain. Kakashi speedily grabbed her right ankle with his right hand and the back of Sakura's knee with his left hand and he turned around on the spot to hurl her at a boulder.

Sakura's eye widened as she tried to twist her body to soften the impact, at best she managed to land against the boulder harshly while briefly winding herself.

Sakura smiled as Kakashi sped towards her at lightning speed.

He engaged Sakura in an unfair one on one. Landing a few hard strikes on Sakura, Kakashi tried to examine Sakura's fighting style but he was being blocked by Sakura's chakra, which irritated him. He hadn't met a single ninja who could block his Sharingan from analysing the basics until now.

Kakashi was progressively getting angrier as Sakura started to adapt to his fighting style, dodging all the swings that Kakashi aimed at her.

Sakura had to jump as Kakashi swept his leg to trip her, although Sakura perfectly dodged his kick, she didn't see the lightning that was forming dangerously around his right hand. Without a second thought Kakashi pushed his palm through Sakura's shoulder.

Her eyes widened in time with Kakashi as she stammered back.

Sakura's body subconsciously started to heal itself, although her nine-year-old body didn't hold anywhere near enough chakra to heal a gaping wound.

"Kakashi-sensei…bit much, don't you think?" Sakura blurted out, attempting a joke as she looked down at herself. Kakashi supported Sakura while quickly untying her binds, accidentally brushing his hand across the necklace that hung from Sakura's neck.

He froze momentarily. Different scenarios raced across his mind as if they were real memories.

"Sakura?" Kakashi's eyes filled with confusion as weird thoughts invaded his mind of an older Sakura.

"Kakashi!" Itachi rushed to his side. "I know you said you wouldn't go easy oh her but what the fuck?" He muttered while picking up Sakura's body.

It took everything in Sakura not to push herself away from Itachi's grasp. The Hokage looked on in horror as blood escaped Sakura's shoulder at a fast rate.

"Head to the hospital and make sure the emergency unit are ready for when Sakura arrives." He spoke quickly to the Lady standing next to him. She nodded before darting off into the village. The Hokage then walked over to Kakashi. "You need to come with me." He ordered.

Kakashi's eyes had noticeably changed. He lowered his headband over his left eye and took another look at Sakura. He'd somehow changed his strict mindset…rules about the Shinobi way that littered his mind had been dismissed without a second thought.

"I'll…I'll visit you later." Kakashi spoke in a dark tone before following the Hokage off the training field.

Sakura flinched in pain as Itachi started to walk her carefully in the direction of the village.

"So," Itachi started as he looked down at Sakura. "You must be the same age as my younger brother." He tried to distract Sakura from the pain while keeping her awake.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's words drenched in sorrow caused Itachi to glance at her briefly before his attention was taken by the shimmering glow from her necklace.

"This is unusual." Itachi muttered, letting his curiosity take over, he shifted Sakura's body gently to touch the necklace around her neck.

Sakura noticed his eyes flicker with a variety of emotions.

Thoughts and experiences from the future rushed into Itachi's mind causing him to stop in his tracks. Sakura soon realised that the necklace must affect anyone who touches it, allowing them to access memories from the future that played out before. Hence why Kakashi acted strange just a few moments ago.

"Uh…Itachi. I know this is an overwhelming feeling of confusion right now…but I really need to get to the hospital and I am in too much pain to walk." Sakura started to speak before a genuine smile came across his face.

"I can change the future…to lay a better path." He muttered to himself, Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Itachi, please," Sakura whimpered pathetically, catching his attention. He analysed the wound before briskly walking to the hospital. "You can't tell anyone…about what you know."

"What do you mean?" Itachi murmured, keeping his focus ahead of him.

"About what you know…about your…uh, other future. The one where you massacred your village." Sakura spoke in a serious tone. Itachi's attention snapped to Sakura.

He was about to question why Sakura knew until he linked everything up in his mind.

"You…you stole my scroll…You could have really messed up my plan." Venom intertwined his tone in a playful way, causing Sakura to scoff.

"I didn't do anything, I was nothing but a dying experiment." Sakura said solemnly, still confused about the whole situation. "The weirdest part is…the guy who experimented on me…told me he was my brother! How stupid!" Sakura laughed before going into a violent coughing fit.

"Just…hospital. Please." Sakura finished as her body started to weaken.

Itachi let out a huge sigh of relief as he adjusted Sakura in his arms. He found it extremely satisfying to see his lifelong studies were successful and were coming into play.

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 _A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review with any feedback! or you could have an input in what you want to happen in this fanfiction ^_^ I hope you enjoyed reading_


	3. Potential

Itachi sat by Sakura's side as the nurse was slowly, but surely trying to tend to Sakura's wounds.

Sakura examined the medics' face, but she didn't recognise her at all.

"Um. May I suggest concentrating your chakra through your hands to aid my muscles in regrouping. I'm already using my reserves to numb my shoulder so it won't hurt." Sakura advised the medic. The medic ignored Sakura's advice and rushed to wrap a bandage around her shoulder before leaving the room.

Sakura let out a laugh as she unwrapped the bandages to look at the wound.

"She didn't even clean the wound…I didn't realise how bad the hospital used to be…" She spoke out loud. She looked at Itachi briefly before looking down at her hand. "Itachi, Uh…Can I have your help please?" She asked cautiously, unsure of his true intentions now that he had all his memories back.

"Sure. What do you need me to do?" He responded. Surprising Sakura with his formality.

"Could you grab a wet flannel please. A warm one…preferably." Itachi nodded as he got the required gear. "I'll need you to lend me some of your chakra through one hand. And I need you to clean up my wound while I reattach new muscles in my shoulder." Sakura informed professionally as Itachi complied without hesitation.

Sakura eyed him cautiously as he picked up her hand. He started transferring his chakra into Sakura. She felt a warm pulse of energy surge throughout her body. With Itachi's hand gripped firmly on Sakura's, she slowly moved her hand near her shoulder so she could speed up the process.

Itachi dabbed the mildly infected area of her wound with the damp cloth, although he didn't have to do it for too long as Sakura's body started repairing itself and, after a short while, her skin reformed around the area, completely erasing any form of injury. He smirked as Sakura turned her hand around to grab onto his hand.

"I can see that you're done with your healing, Sakura," Itachi spoke before turning his head to look at her. His hair gliding past his shoulder with ease. "Now you're just being greedy now."

"Easy for you to say. I'm in my nine-year-old body…I have loads of energy but my chakra depletes faster than I'm used to…So yeah. I'm taking some more chakra to keep my levels high enough…Just in case." Sakura sulked. Being taken back by Itachi's attentiveness.

A few seconds later, Kakashi entered the room. Staring at the two ninja in front of him in confusion as Itachi took his hand from Sakura. Pain filled his eyes as he looked at the back of Itachi's head.

"Itachi, I need to speak to Sakura, alone." Kakashi snapped the two's focus onto him. Itachi moved to the door to close it. "It's private." He continued.

"Is it about your old future memories…Kakashi?" Sakura questioned, causing Kakashi to widen his only visible eye slightly. "It's okay…Itachi knows too…I think it's got something to do with my necklace." Sakura continued, looking down at her necklace before deciding to hide it under her clothes. "What a weird situation we're in." Sakura laughed sadly, Kakashi decided he'd leave his other questions for later before he took a seat on Sakura's hospital bed. "How bad are the hospitals medics…am I right?" Sakura's voice started shaking.

Kakashi placed his hand over Sakura's forehead. Sakura started to cry.

"We can do so many things…" She spoke through her tears, slowly building herself up. "Sarutobi, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Gaara, Asuma…Neji…Ino…" Sakura broke down into sobs in between names.

"Yeah…" Kakashi agreed, quickly using both hands to cup her face and wipe Sakura's tears away. "The Hokage will be coming here in a few minutes, you have to compose yourself…For my sake I'm afraid. If he deems that you've been traumatised by my reckless mistake, I'll be removed from the ANBU task force…I kinda need the money at the moment." Kakashi's eye wrinkled up as he smiled at Sakura. "God Sakura." He breathed out. "I thought you were dead there."

Sakura sniffed the tears away before coughing and smiling back at Kakashi.

"I would have been from the treatment the medic didn't give me. Would you believe she just put a bandage over my shoulder without even cleaning the wound! I'm sure the bandages were used previously…They had a weird smell to them." Sakura laughed. Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle and ruffle up her hair.

"He's approaching." Itachi informed as he opened the door. Kakashi stood up from the bed and he removed any emotion that was previously showing on his face.

Sarutobi entered the room shortly after Kakashi stood up.

"Sakura, are you okay?" The Hokage asked, making sure to speak slowly and clearly so that Sakura would understand. The medic tending to Sakura entered the room behind him.

"I am now, no thanks to that medic." She responded, showing no mercy to the medic. The medic's posture stiffened as the Hokage gave Sakura a quizzical look. "I'm lucky that Itachi came in with me. If he wasn't here I'm certain that the wound on my shoulder would have been infected long enough to develop into an unnecessary, and preventable, virus. The medic also used a bandage that was already out of its' packaging," Sakura continued before turning to Itachi. "Thank-"

"No need to show your gratitude. I am required, by oath, to make sure that all the Leaf Villages shinobi are safe." Itachi interrupted, distancing himself from Sakura. The Hokage looked over his shoulder at the medic before exhaling a deep breath.

"I guess it's time to introduce some new procedures to the hospital..." He muttered before turning back around to examine Sakura. "You're fully healed?" He questioned.

"Yeah…All thanks to Tsunade's books!" Sakura quickly spoke as she had no struggles in pulling herself up to a sitting position, surprising even herself that she felt no pain in her shoulder.

There was a pause before the Hokage looked up at the clock above Sakura's head. He stood up straight while eying Sakura cautiously.

"If you feel like you're well enough, would you like to return to school?" Sarutobi questioned. Sakura nodded her head innocently and hopped off the bed, to prove the point that she was fine to him. "Alright then," He spoke before looking over at Itachi. "Escort her, Itachi." He ordered while shooing the medic out of the room with him.

Sakura stared blankly at the door where Sarutobi exited.

' _The school is barely 15 metres from the Hospital'_ Sakura thought to herself. She started to head to the door before noticing that Itachi hadn't moved. Itachi was having, what looked like, a stare out with Kakashi.

"Itachi…I hope you have no plans of-" Kakashi started.

"You have my word that it won't play out like it did last time. I have a plan to keep the peace." Itachi answered. Kakashi chuckled before walking up to Itachi and hugging him. Itachi hugged Kakashi back however, Sakura found it difficult to watch Kakashi hug Itachi.

"Uh…I don't know what your relationship with Itachi in the past was…but I'm still finding it hard to consider Itachi as an ally." Sakura spoke, separating the two from each other.

"Oh, Yeah." Kakashi chuckled. Hope shining in Kakashi's eyes. "Catch up with you later." He said as he left the room.

Sakura looked up at Itachi, keeping her guard up.

"Thank y-" She started.

"Like I said, no need to thank me." Itachi interjected before walking out of the room. Sakura skipping to catch up to him, frowned at Itachi. His face was completely cold.

It took them no time at all until they reached the gates to Sakura's school.

"My goodness…" Sakura's eyes built up with tears as she saw a lonely Naruto hanging by himself on a swing. "I forgot all about Naruto." She whispered to herself as she fought hard to keep the tears back.

"I'd like to formally invite you and your parents to my house for dinner tonight." Itachi suddenly spoke. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "It's part of my plan. I'll inform your parents myself. Just make sure to tell Sasuke that I'll be here after school ends to walk the both of you to the compound."

Before Sakura could question the Uchiha any further, he darted off in the direction of Sakura's house.

Sakura stood still as she moved her attention back to the school. It felt weird for Sakura to see everyone as innocent and oblivious as they were as they played with each other. Her eyes landed on a familiar dark haired miserable looking boy.

She had to refrain the laughter that threatened to escape her lips as she walked over to Naruto.

"Hi there, Naruto." Sakura said softly, bending down to look at Naruto's face.

Naruto jumped and looked up in shock.

"Y-you know my name!?" He said, his eyes lighting up considerably, pulling at Sakura's heart strings.

"Of course I do!" She smiled as she held a hand out. "I'm Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet you." Sakura greeted. Naruto looked at Sakura in confusion and paused. Sakura looked back in confusion, asking herself what she said to make him stop talking.

"Your clothes are torn…" Naruto muttered. Sakura looked down and noticed quite an embarrassing hole that _almost_ exposed her chest. Sakura tried to cover herself while cussing Itachi for failing to mention that her clothes were torn significantly. Her face reddened as Naruto roared in laughter.

"Don't you worry Sakura-Chan! I'll give you my jacket!" Naruto offered as he removed his jacket. Sakura appreciatively accepted his signature orange jacket and giggled.

The bell rung. Naruto held out his hand to Sakura. She quickly threw Naruto's jacket on before zipping it up. She hesitantly took Naruto's hand before noticing Hinata run into the building.

A wave of guilt hit Sakura as she recalled Hinata having feelings for Naruto. Sakura decided that she would make it her personal mission to get Hinata to interact with Naruto quicker.

"EW! Sakura is with the looooser! Sasuke doesn't like losers!" Ino shouted from across the field as she hooked herself onto Sasuke's arm. Sakura smiled at Ino before laughing softly.

As much as her blonde friend annoyed the living daylights out of Sakura, she was so relieved to see her head very much attached to her body…

"I think Sasuke can speak for himself if he has a problem." Sakura responded calmly as she lead Naruto into the building.

It didn't take long for the two to reach the classroom.

Sakura noticed that Iruka was looking at her in a different way than she was used to.

"Is everything okay, Iruka-Sensei?" Sakura questioned, noticing Naruto was still holding her hand as he tightened his grip slightly. "Oh, Sorry Naruto." She apologised. She let go of his hand before turning her attention back to Iruka.

"Well, Sakura, you missed our morning sparring session…" Iruka scolded, Sakura would have been intimidated if she didn't know any better.

"You don't have to worry about making me catch up with the warm ups Iruka-Sensei, I had my own sparring session this morning…" Sakura giggled. Naruto walked off to his seat.

"Yeah…so I've been told. Is it really true that you beat Itachi?" He asked, his curiosity taking over his professionalism while Ino and Sasuke were walking past.

Sasuke tugged his arm away from Ino. Before she could complain he shot her the 'Uchiha' glare. She scurried off in her seat without another word. Sasuke then turned to face Sakura, making her feel uncomfortable.

"U-uh, well," Sakura started while brushing her long hair behind her ear. "I didn't _beat_ Itachi…He just let his guard down and I managed to severely wind him and break a few ribs in the process." Sakura's high pitched voice made that sentence sound eerily sinister.

"Impossible," Sasuke scoffed. "Don't make up rumours to get my attention." Sasuke finished before walking to his assigned seat next to Naruto.

Sakura watched Sasuke and stared him out for a few moments.

"Actually, Iruka-Sensei, I feel a bit stiff from laying in the hospital bed for the few hours I was for. Can I beat-up, I mean spar with Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she gave Iruka an innocent look.

Iruka crossed his arms before looking over to Sasuke.

"I can only agree to that if Sasuke does. I wouldn't want to be responsible for any injuries caused…" Iruka muttered the last part to himself as he waited for Sasuke to respond.

"Is that a challenge, I've seen the way you fight. You hold back. But it's not like that in the real world, there is no way you would beat me." Sasuke boasted.

"Did you not just hear? I broke your older brothers' ribs. Does that sound like holding back to you?" Sakura questioned as she leaned to the side and rested a hand on her hip. The room fell silent as Sasuke stood up.

"Fine." Sasuke smirked before walking down to Iruka. "If Sakura insists she could beat me, can I request that we use the training grounds in the Uchiha compound? My parents own it and today they're on a special mission." Sasuke continued.

Iruka bit down on his lip, thinking hard about whether or not to go off schedule. If he was being honest with himself, He didn't believe what the Hokage had told him a few minutes ago as Iruka noticed no injuries on Sakura.

"Okay class, we're all going to finish the day by sparring one on one in the Uchiha compound. Make sure you stick close to me." Iruka spoke to the small class, leading them out of the school and towards the Uchiha clan, nervously.

"Don't go crying to mommy when you're battered and bruised." Sakura teased, enjoying the new-found attention she was getting from Sasuke, although he ignored her. Sasuke walked ahead of the group and towards a man who was leaning against the side of the entrance to the complex.

"I'm taking my class to the training grounds." Sasuke stated, glaring up at the shinobi before him.

"Isn't that cute." The man chuckled before looking at Iruka. "Do you have a permit?" He asked Iruka.

"He doesn't need a permit. That requirement was agreed to be discontinued-" Sasuke started in a matter-of-fact way.

"Fine, fine." He interjected, not wanting to be reprimanded by the arrogant boy. He looked around at the class before his eyes landed on the pink haired kunoichi. He eyed her cautiously while the class passed him into the compound.

He noticed that she carried herself in a more authoritive way than Iruka was and he found it incredibly odd.

Sakura noticed him staring and met his gaze with her own. He flinched slightly, making Sakura smirk and walk off. She was starting to appreciate the small things in life.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review! 3_


	4. Perpetration

Iruka lined up the students in the safe zone on the side of the grounds. Soon after, he walked over to Sakura and Sasuke before putting his hands on his hips.

"Okay, there will be one rule, and one rule only." Iruka stated clearly, looking from Sakura to Sasuke. "You are to use the safe word if you feel like you can't carry on fighting. The safe word is 'Stop', got it?"

"Yep." Sakura chirped happily as she clicked her knuckles. "Let's get this started."

"On my mark," Iruka spoke loud, being sure that Sasuke and Sakura could hear him. "Start!"

Iruka jumped to the side of the training ground. Sasuke wasted no time to make the first move. He inhaled deeply in preparation for his fireball attack. Sakura was already very familiar with Sasuke's old fighting style so she quickly went over her tactic in her head.

' _So, he likes to fight at a long range…he can use taijutsu but it's definitely not as good as his ninjutsu. The only weapons he will use are shuriken. So, this is a bit of an unfair fight…for him._ ' Sakura smirked as she reared her fist.

Sasuke exhaled a huge fire ball at the same time as she hit the ground.

Chunks of rubble flew upwards, giving Sakura protection from the fire and a distraction as Sasuke was momentarily stunned at what he was seeing.

Iruka matched Sasuke's face. Iruka looked at Sakura before he furrowed his eyebrows.

' _Where the hell has this power suddenly come from!?_ ' he thought to himself, keeping his eyes fixed on Sakura in attempts of analysing her.

"Whoo! Yeah! Go Sakura! Beat him up!" Naruto cheered, throwing his fist in the air.

Sasuke held his arms in front of his face as Sakura had darted towards him and threw a punch in his direction. She had infused a small amount of chakra with her fist, causing Sasuke's arms to bruise almost instantly.

Sakura continued to throw punches in Sasuke's direction, her fist hitting him on every other punch. She couldn't help but smile as Sasuke's once stoic face twisted into pure confusion.

Just as Sakura aimed for Sasuke's face, he dodged and swept his leg to trip her up. Sakura fell harshly on her side before rolling out of the way of Sasuke's foot as he aimed to stomp on her face.

Sakura jumped to her feet and ran towards a tree. Sasuke was hot on her trail, throwing shuriken in her direction. Sasuke grew more annoyed at Sakura as she dodged the shuriken without even looking.

' _How is she dodging my attacks? She can't even see them!_ ' Sasuke thought inwardly. Much to Sasuke's surprise, Sakura started to run up the tree.

Sasuke froze involuntarily as Sakura ran up the tree a little further before springing herself off. She twisted her body appropriately to land a standard kick to Sasuke's side.

His body flew to the side hitting the ground and bouncing a few times before he tried to steady himself. If Sasuke didn't regain his balance when he did, he would have hit some of his classmates.

"Whoops, didn't intend to use that much force." Sakura muttered to herself before running towards Sasuke. "You wanna call it quits, pretty boy?" Sakura teased.

Sasuke merely scowled at her before he started to throw punches and kicks in her direction. Sasuke's first punch grazed her cheek, but she dodged every punch and kick flawlessly which only made Sasuke more irritated.

Sasuke started to add shuriken to his combos, although he still missed Sakura with every attempt to hurt her.

"Sakura." A man spoke, making Sakura freeze up at the familiarity of the voice. Sasuke took advantage of this and punched Sakura square in the face.

"Oof," Sakura blurted involuntarily as she stumbled back. Sasuke smiled as Sakura rushed to cover her bleeding nose with her hands.

"Ah, I'm sorry-" Iruka started. Sasuke turned around to the voice and crossed his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said harsher than he intended as his older brother walked towards him and Sakura.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Itachi ignored his brother. Sasuke glared at him before turning to Sakura. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw her hand glowing with a green light.

' _Did I do that light thing to her face?_ ' He thought to himself as he tried to get a look at Sakura's nose.

"Well, I missed the sparring session this morning so I thought 'what better way to make up for it than to fight Sasuke Uchiha'?" Sakura laughed subtly as she spoke.

Itachi bent down to her height and moved his mouth towards her face, making her heart race and her cheeks heat up.

"What are you…?" She muttered, trying to lean away from him. He simply stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. He moved his head to the side of hers.

"You need to stop attracting so much attention, otherwise people will get suspicious. Obviously, it's too late now seeing as your teacher, who has taught you since you were younger, has monitored your skill before today. This 'newfound' power and style of fighting will look odd to him, you're lucky I've made up an excuse..." Itachi whispered to Sakura almost inaudibly.

"Oh…I guess so." Sakura replied, not paying full attention to what Itachi said. Itachi stood straight and turned to face Iruka.

"You'll have to leave these grounds. There is to be ANBU training held here very soon." Itachi informed Iruka.

"I was told these grounds would be free today." Sasuke answered back.

"Plans change."

"If they're going to be used for ANBU training soon, why are you the only one h-"

Kakashi arrived at the scene just as Sasuke was about to finish his sentence. He nodded slight at Iruka as a greeting. The children looked up at the two adults in awe.

"Wow! It really is strong ninjas!"

"They're ANBU!"

"They look so tall and scary!"

The children spoke quietly amongst themselves.

"My apologies, I will continue the lessons at the school." Iruka held his hands up apologetically as he gathered the children. "Sasuke, Sakura. Let's go."

Sasuke stared at his brother intensely. Kakashi walked past the two students to stand at Itachi's side.

"Is it true?" Sasuke started, looking down at Sakura. "Did she best you?"

"Yes, although I can assure you that it won't happen again." Itachi indirectly spoke to Sakura, causing her to smirk.

Sasuke didn't say any more as he grunted and walked away.

"I can assure you that it won't happen again." Sakura mocked as she followed Sasuke.

Kakashi's eye wrinkled as he smiled at Itachi. Itachi couldn't help himself but to smirk back at him.

"Sakura's definitely something else…" Kakashi chuckled as both he and Itachi watched her walk away.

As soon as the two joined the rest of their class, Iruka lead them back to the school.

The children walked into the building although Iruka held Sakura back.

"Sakura, where did you learn all those techniques?" Iruka spoke softly in attempts to make Sakura feel comfortable.

"U-uh, well Itachi can tell you more about that. But I used to have a book and it was about Tsunade! It was awesome! I want to be just like her!" Sakura laced fake excitement in her tone as Iruka's face softened, he looked at Sakura's nose and noticed that there was a small dot of blood under her left nostril. He swiftly took out a tissue and handed it to her.

"Ah, that makes a bit of sense." Iruka said to himself before he lead Sakura to the class room. "Sasuke, do you require medical attention?" Iruka questioned as he entered the classroom. Sakura entered close behind and looked around the room. The only available seat was next to Sasuke. She started to make her way towards the spare seat in hopes that Sasuke would see the onsite medic.

"No."

Sakura frowned before taking a seat next to him, feeling the angry aura that surrounded him.

"Okay class! Now that we're all warmed up, it's time to learn a really difficult technique." Iruka started before picking up a chalk stick to write on the board. "The shadow clone Jutsu."

…

The school day passed quick. Sasuke was the last person to leave the classroom, almost following Sakura to the gates in a stalking manor. Sasuke's eyes lit up when he saw Itachi standing at the gates in his normal clothes, waiting for him.

"Itachi!" Sasuke said happily. He ran past Sakura and stopped at Itachi's side. He waited a bit before looking up at Itachi. "Why aren't we moving?"

Sakura's face tensed slightly as she heard Sasuke ask the question. She completely forgot about telling Sasuke about dinner earlier on. The fight they had earlier on knocked it out of her thoughts.

"Didn't Sakura tell you?" Itachi started, glancing at Sakura momentarily. "She's been invited to our house for dinner tonight." Sasuke froze on the spot as Itachi started walking with Sakura.

"What? But we never have guests around!" Sasuke complained. But rather than the usual angry tone Sakura was used to, he was almost whiny. Sakura smiled at the unfamiliarity of his tone of voice.

"She won't be around for too long Sasuke. There will still be time for us to train." Itachi responded while walking off in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Sasuke rushed to follow him.

"Did you train Sakura?" Sasuke asked after a while of walking. Itachi chuckled slightly at his question, making Sasuke's face go red.

"Definitely not," He responded while the three walked through the entrance to the Uchiha compound.

Sakura noticed that she seemed to attract a lot of attention. Multiple people glanced at her as they walked past her.

"That's not annoying or off-putting." Sakura muttered to herself. Itachi heard Sakura and looked at her to see where she was looking and soon discovered she meant the Uchiha walking past her.

"Well, you do have pink hair, Sakura. That is quite odd." Itachi answered, making her jump at his sudden response.

"You'd think they would have better things to look at…" Sakura murmured. "And my pink hair is unique…not odd."

Itachi scoffed at her statement, triggering Sakura to glare at him.

Sasuke was having an inner conflict. He was curious about Sakura but he didn't want to actually speak to her, it was bad enough for him that she would be staying around for dinner.

They reached the Uchiha's home within a few minutes. Sakura swallowed back her nerves as they approached the house.

"I'm starving!" Sasuke said.

"Me too, Sasuke." Itachi chuckled as he watched Sasuke walk ahead and enter the house.

"So…what's the plan Itachi…?" Sakura whispered, her voice shaking slightly.

"Everything you are now is because you've self-taught after taking a tangible interest in what the leaf village has to offer. Your strength today comes from the teachings of the village." Itachi responded quickly as they both entered the house.

"Itachi!" Mikoto, the Uchiha's mother, greeted Itachi by cupping his face in her hands and kissing his cheek. Itachi gave her a warm smile. Sakura had to stop herself from smiling at his mothers' welcoming embrace. "And you must be little Sakura Haruno." She continued as she bent down to her height. "I've heard a little bit about you, I hope we get to know each other better over dinner today." She smiled.

Sakura couldn't help but smile back at the lovely woman. She had to refrain her eyes from watering as her brain prompted her that Itachi had killed this woman before…

' _I don't understand why Itachi would kill his own mother…she's not mean at all like I thought she would be…_ ' Sakura mused before snapping herself out of her trail of thoughts.

"Yes! I hope my presence here isn't too much bother. It's nice to meet you." Sakura responded, unaware of the fact she was being monitored by Itachi's father, Fugaku.

"You're well-spoken for a nine-year-old." He commented. Sakura's eyes widened slightly before she cleared her throat.

"I've learned a significant amount from the school I go to. They provide a good education to us all." She responded. She felt Itachi tense up slightly.

' _Did I say something wrong?_ ' Sakura thought to herself as she kept a firm gaze at Fugaku. He looked down his nose at her before narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I didn't realise the village had facilities that good…" Fugaku muttered while walking out of the room. Itachi relaxed his posture at his fathers' response.

There was an awkward pause that lasted at least twenty seconds after he left the room.

"Well that was kind-of rude of him." Sakura spoke aloud with a frown on her face.

"Sorry about that Sakura, Fugaku is just…very stressed right now, he doesn't mean to be dismissive." Mikoto defended him as she stood up. She held her hand out to Sakura. "Would you like to help with the cooking?" Sakura hesitantly nodded at her before grabbing her hand. "Sorry Itachi, I would have had dinner prepared by now, however your father…" Mikoto said with an unsure look on her face.

"Don't fret, I can take Sasuke and train him while you're cooking with Sakura." Itachi said, gaining Sasuke's attention. "We'll work up more of an appetite that way."

Sakura looked at him briefly before concluding that he only said that to keep his mother happy.

"Yes!" He said to himself while running up to Itachi.

"Thank you, you always did understand…" Mikoto responded sadly before looking down at Sakura and smiling. "Today we will be making a curry!" She exclaimed.

Genuine delight showed on Sakura's face.

"Curry is my absolute favourite meal…ever!" She spoke excitedly. Mikoto giggled at her before bringing Sakura into the kitchen.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! and thank you so much for reviewing. And just to answer a question for the first chapter. 'Sakura's brother' will not be an OC. So I'll torture your minds with that as you try and guess who he is ;D Unfortunately I don't plan on bringing him into the fanfiction again for some time ^_^_


	5. Patience

Itachi decided that he didn't want to go too easy on Sasuke this time around, so Itachi would add in punches and kicks when he felt that Sasuke wasn't paying any attention. To Itachi's dismay, Sasuke got hit every time he let his guard down.

"Ugh!" Sasuke roared as he threw shuriken in Itachi's direction. Itachi dodged the weapons with ease. "Just one hit this time!" He shouted, getting very agitated that he wasn't hitting Itachi at all.

"We should stop sparring and focus on a technique, Sasuke." Itachi spoke softly, but this only irritated Sasuke.

"Why can't I land one single hit on you?!" He growled as he clenched his fists. Itachi sighed before walking towards Sasuke.

"You shouldn't be mad because you can't land an attack. Sometimes it's better to be defensive than offensive. Rushing to get a hit-" Itachi tried to calm Sasuke.

"Sakura managed to hit you! When the hell did she get so good anyway?" Sasuke interrupted as his face heated up. "She ran on the side of a tree too! Can you do that Itachi? Run up a tree?" Sasuke frantically ran both his hands through his hair.

"Yes, would you like me to teach you?" Itachi questioned.

"No." Sasuke spat before crossing his arms. "What were you telling her earlier on today? When we were fighting in the training field?"

"I," Itachi started while stroking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "I reminded her to make sure she told you about dinner today."

"Oh," Sasuke responded, unclenching his fists as he sighed. "Can you teach me how to make a bigger fireball?"

Itachi smiled slightly.

"Sure," Itachi walked over to Sasuke and ruffled his hair. "Let's go to the lake and train there."

The two brothers walked peacefully to the Uchiha's lake in the compound. The lake was clear as a crystal, almost as if no one had ever touched it.

"Okay, I'm ready." Sasuke said, excitement playing in his tone.

"Alright," Itachi said as he grounded himself, Sasuke took a few steps back so that he wouldn't get in the way. "So, like I said before, the real key to getting your fireball to be big is confidence. If you're not confident that you can make a fireball, you will not have control of the fire you produce." Itachi said as he inhaled a deep breath. He made a hand-sign before blowing out a huge amount of fire from his mouth, Sasuke smiled as the fire looked huge, but soon after Itachi made the fire, it died down. "While being confident, you also have to feel calm. If you are unconfident and angry, the fire can damage you and potentially damage your friends too and you will not be able to recall the fire you created…which can lead to all sorts of problems. The best advice I can give you is concentrate your chakra in both your stomach and throat. You'll figure it out the more you do the jutsu."

"But fire is hot and it only causes destruction. It would only make sense that you're angry when you do the jutsu." Sasuke interjected. Itachi cleared his throat before shaking his head slowly.

"Fire is for warmth, not destruction. It is the tainted Ninja that bring destruction with the fire they use." Itachi spoke slowly, Sasuke nodded slightly and started to ground his feet. "If it helps, think about someone you want to protect, like mother." Itachi added.

"Okay…I think I'm ready" Sasuke responded. He closed his eyes for a moment as he thought of Mikoto.

At first Sasuke was calm, remembering all the times Mikoto cheered him up by picking him up and hugging him as she spun. By playing with Sasuke when Itachi was too busy to play with him…by making him his favourite food for dinner whenever he felt down…but that thought slowly changed into thoughts of Sakura. She was cooking today with Mikoto. Sakura used to be weak and Sasuke wouldn't have even payed her any attention unless she said something stupid. Now she seems to be as good as Itachi from absolutely nowhere.

Sasuke inhaled uncontrollably as he opened his eyes.

"Sasuke n-!" Itachi tried to run to Sasuke before he could finish his jutsu but Sasuke exhaled an extraordinary amount of fire over the lake.

The fire spread out so wide that it started to severely burn Sasuke's hands, arms and face. Sasuke shouted in pain before recalling the fire. There was a small amount of grass that set alight from the excess flame. Itachi picked up Sasuke as he stamped the small fire out.

Itachi examined his brother as Sasuke fell unconscious. Itachi concluded that Sasuke must have used up all his chakra in that one attempt. Itachi darted in the direction of the hospital but stopped as he saw the Uchiha compounds exit.

He sighed before deciding to run in the direction of his house.

"I can't believe I'm choosing a nine-year-old over the hospital…I hope she's actually a good medic…" Itachi muttered to himself in uncertainty.

It took Itachi little less than 2 minutes to reach his house. He went straight through to the kitchen.

Sakura and Mikoto were laughing as Sakura had accidentally popped open the lid of the pre-made coriander spice and spilled it over the counter.

Sakura was the first one to notice Sasuke. Her happy expression turned distressed instantly as she swiped an empty bowl before filling it with cold water. She then grabbed a cloth before jumping off the stool. Mikoto turned around to see what was going on and fear struck her.

Sakura looked around for a hairband to tie her long hair back but she couldn't see any, she quickly set the bowl and cloth on the floor before walking around Itachi and pulling his hairband out. Sakura internally thanked Itachi that his hair was so smooth that the hairband just glided out of his hair with ease.

"I need this." Sakura muttered, making sure Itachi complied without consent.

"Sasuke!? Itachi? What happened?!" Mikoto asked hysterically as she rushed over to Itachi. He placed Sasuke's body on the floor for Sakura to tend to.

Fugaku rushed into the room a few moments later.

"What the hell is going on out here?!" He said as his eyes landed on Sasuke.

"He's suffered immediate 3rd degree burns, and it looks like he's exhausted his chakra reserves." Sakura stated as she messily tied her hair back. She infused her hand with chakra as she carefully hovered her hand a few inches above Sasuke's body.

"What are you doing to him?! He needs to get to a hospital!" Fugaku raged as he walked towards Itachi and Sakura.

"What...?" Sakura yipped as her left hand reached Sasuke's eyes. "No way…that can't be…not yet at least. Surely?"

"What are you mumbling about girl?! Speak up!" Fugaku shouted, barely making Sakura flinch although Mikoto shot a worried look in Fugaku's direction, making him freeze on the spot. He was majorly conflicted on what he should do about the situation.

"Sasuke…He's activated his Sharingan already." Sakura muttered almost inaudibly. Sakura used her other hand to examine Sasuke's deeper muscles in his arms. Sasuke flinched slightly, making Mikoto tear up.

"What are you doing to him?" Fugaku intended to bark at Sakura, although the sentence came out soft and with hints of curiosity lacing his tone.

"Well," Sakura started while removing her left hand from Sasuke's eyes and dipping it into the water bowl. "I've just examined the internal damage, that our eyes can't see, and I've just made the decision of using a small amount of water to help me heal Sasuke's internal wounds. The water will act as a catalyst…" Sakura lifted her hand up from the bowl, bringing a small amount of water back up with her. "We don't have enough time to use sterile water. However, I can easily make up antibiotics for Sasuke with the herbs our village provides if he catches any virus due to the water quality." Sakura started with Sasuke's face. She hovered her hand over his forehead and gently eased the water into his body.

"Where did the water go?" Mikoto asked in a panicked tone.

"Don't worry, I've just moved the water into his system so I can heal the wounds better." Sakura slowly moved her hand downwards while bringing her right hand up and placing it on top of her left. "Once I've healed his internal wounds, I'll be rejuvenating the skin, that part requires a lot of concentration, so can I please request silence until my hands stop glowing."

Everyone in the room fell silent, the only noise was Mikoto sniffing away her tears every now and then.

Sakura's heart raced as she felt Sasuke's heartbeat slow down. She didn't want to inform the parents that she wasn't doing too well. She concluded that his brain experienced a lot of pain enduring the burns and its way of coping was to shut down slowly.

Pure silence filled the room as sweat formed on Sakura's face. Sasuke's burns were healing perfectly as Sakura could physically see the burns completely disappear bit by bit. However, Sakura was starting to feel weak.

' _I need to do this…Sasuke can't die, not now_ ' She thought to herself while pulling out the water she'd put in earlier on. She placed the water gently back into the bowl before she hovered both her hands over Sasuke's chest.

She exerted lots of her chakra into his heart, going into her reserves very quickly.

A few moments later, Sasuke's heartbeat returned to normal and Sakura sighed in relief.

"He…" Sakura surprised herself as spoke weakly. She briefly paused before clearing her throat. "Sasuke is in a stable condition. He should wake up soon." Sakura stated robotically as she dabbed the dry cloth over where the water entered and exited Sasuke's body. She stood up and placed everything back where she found it before she turned around to the Uchiha. "Soldier pill?" She questioned.

Itachi briskly walked to the cupboards to find what Sakura wanted, but after a short while of searching…he couldn't find anything.

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Mikoto questioned as Sakura's face became pale.

"I'm okay." Sakura struggled to keep her consciousness as she headed towards Itachi.

"Uh…What happened? Why am I on the floor?" Sasuke croaked while looking around. Relief hit Sakura hard as she heard Sasuke's voice, she had no more reasons to remain tense. Sakura hit the ground harshly as she lost consciousness.

"Ah crap!" Mikoto shouted as she rushed to Sakura's body. "Is she okay?"

"She will be okay." Itachi stated as he closed the cupboard. "She just needs rest, and an icepack for her head." Itachi spoke while lifting Sakura's body. "I'll let her use my bed until she regains her consciousness."

"How, impressive. She is quite smart for her age, I wonder how she learned this..." Fugaku voiced his thoughts out loud.

"As she said, the village taught her." Itachi answered before walking out the room with Sakura in his arms.

Mikoto rushed to Sasuke and helped him up.

"Sasuke, you were all burnt up!" Mikoto informed in a shaky voice. Sasuke looked down at himself before raising an eyebrow. "Sakura healed you…She, her hands were glowing green. Oh goodness I'm glad you're okay!" She exclaimed before hugging Sasuke and running her hand through his hair.

"I've never seen any medic ninja pull off what she just did." Fugaku spoke in a jealous manner. "Don't you find that weird?"

"It's the next generation, Fugaku. They're becoming stronger." Mikoto softly explained as she let go of Sasuke.

"I…I'm going out to clear my head." Fugaku declared before hesitantly exiting the house.

"Uh…I'm hungry." Sasuke stated. Mikoto giggled slightly before walking to the curry she'd just about finished with Sakura earlier.

"Then we best get you fed! I'll eat with you too, Sasuke." Mikoto plastered a smile on her face as she sorted out the dinner for her and Sasuke.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! Sorry for any spelling/grammatical errors here, I'm on the verge of falling asleep!_


	6. Persuasion

Itachi had been watching over Sakura for some time now. He thought about what would have happened if he did go to the hospital instead of taking Sasuke to Sakura. He knew that the best the hospital could do was numb the pain and maybe heal the external burns a bit. But in all his time as an ANBU, he'd never seen the hospital fully rejuvenate the skin cells of a burn.

Itachi smirked to himself as he walked over to his bathroom to grab a damp towel.

"I underestimated you," Itachi said, walking back to Sakura with his hair gracefully dancing behind him.

Sakura stirred slightly, as if to respond, but her eyes remained shut. Itachi placed the damp towel on her forehead. He took a seat on the bed and stared at Sakura for a while.

"Itachi?" A soft female voice suddenly spoke. He looked up to see his mother standing in the doorway with a plate of crackers, sliced cheese, a selection of hams and chopped tomatoes. "I'm not sure how long you'll be in here for…but I put this together for you to snack on." She explained as she put it on the drawers next to Itachi's bed.

"Thank you." Itachi responded as he stroked a piece of wet hair out of Sakura's face.

"She is an incredibly talented girl…I didn't even get to thank her." Mikoto murmured off before sitting on the side of the bed opposite Itachi. "Her parents will be so proud of her when I tell them what's happened."

"Sasuke…" Sakura spoke out weakly, instantly attracting the attention of the two Uchiha.

"How sweet," Mikoto stated with a giggle before stroking Sakura's cheek. "I think this little one had a crush on our Sasuke!"

Itachi smiled back at his mother although a soft pang of pain shot through his heart after he heard her sentence.

"When are you planning on telling Sakura's parents?" Itachi questioned, gaining Mikoto's full attention.

"Huh?"

"The sun will set very soon, I'm sure her parents will become worried."

"Oh, right." Mikoto stood up before turning on the spot. "I'll be back within the hour."

Itachi remained quiet while maintaining a fixed gaze at Sakura. Curiosity welcomed him to unzip the orange jacket she was now wearing and pick up the necklace around her neck. The smoke like substance in the crystal seemed to grow darker the more he held it, so in caution of not harming his brain in any way, he softly placed it back down on her chest before zipping the jacket back up.

"Itachi," an authoritive voice spoke. Itachi turned around to see Kakashi.

"Just the person I wanted to talk to." Itachi replied as he stood up. "I'm certain my plan is going accordingly."

"I hope your plan doesn't involve killing Sakura." Kakashi said while placing the back of his hand to Sakura's forehead. "She's got quite a fever…what happened?"

"Sasuke burned his arms and face accidentally, Sakura healed his body…entirely." Itachi spoke. "She also said that he had activated his Sharingan."

"What?" Kakashi was shocked with what Itachi said, causing him to remove his hand from Sakura's head.

"Sakura had that same reaction too." Itachi looked down at Sakura. "What age did Sasuke activate his Sharingan for the first time before?"

"Twelve, to protect Naruto." Kakashi answered, making Itachi smile slightly.

"He was actually eight when he activated Sharingan for the first time." Itachi corrected. "When I killed everyone and left him…his Sharingan activated momentarily before he passed out. I recall the massacre happened a few days before Sasuke's 9th birthday."

"Oh…So I guess it's nothing too new then." Kakashi sighed before clearing his throat. "Anyway, I was just talking to the third, he has requested that Tsunade returns to the village so that he can question her about the medical jutsu Sakura knows…We have to get to her before she talks to him otherwise Sakura could be in big trouble."

"You're right…However." Itachi held his hand out, pointing to Sakura. "She's out for who knows how long and one of us should stay here to watch over her, just in case anything happens."

"Can't Sasuke watch over her while we find Tsunade? She's only a few miles south to the village. I've been informed that she's travelling with Shizune. Plus, Sakura trained under Tsunade for two and a half years. Something like over exhausting her chakra is minor. She's probably regenerating Chakra as we speak."

"So, she really did train with Tsunade...Alright, I'll grab Sasuke quick and explain the situation in basic to him and then we can go." Itachi responded before walking into the Kitchen. Sasuke was sitting on the table with an empty plate of food in front of him.

"Itachi!" Sasuke said as he hopped down from his chair.

"Hey Sasuke, I have a very important mission for you. It will help you with your fireball technique if you think correctly during the mission." Itachi informed. Sasuke nodded in excitement. "You have to protect Sakura and make sure she recovers while I'm out with Kakashi."

"That's babysitting!" Sasuke caught on immediately, frowning at his brother and crossing his arms.

"There's food in my room for you to eat too while you're on your mission, it will only take ten minutes." Itachi persuaded Sasuke successfully as Kakashi walked into the kitchen.

"Okay! I won't fail you!" Sasuke said before running into Itachi's room.

"It's quite cute seeing Sasuke like that." Kakashi chuckled, Itachi ignored his comment and lead Kakashi out of the village.

"What is our plan of action? We can't really explain the…uh, other future to her and expect her to believe it." Kakashi questioned, keeping his pace in line with Itachi's.

"We'll have to take her back to the compound, that necklace around Sakura's seems to be the source of memory…I'm not entirely sure why or how, but I'm assuming that whoever stole the forbidden scroll I created, fashioned the necklace to retain something of the future within it." Itachi responded.

The two travelled for a while in silence before they reached Shizune and Tsunade.

"It's odd that you're both wearing ANBU gear without masks. I can only assume that you're not here upon the request of the Hokage." Tsunade spoke as the two stopped in front of her.

Kakashi cleared his voice to speak. However, Tsunade had other intentions.

"I've been briefed on what my visit will include and I hear that there is a kid claiming to have read 'my books'. Kakashi, you know as well as I do that I don't do books. So, what the hell is going on here?" irritation lacing her tone of voice.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you." Kakashi started.

"Try me."

"You taught this kid for two and a half years."

"That's a load of rubbish."

"It seems like that now, but I can assure you, that as soon as we get you back to this child, you will remember everything."

The four-ninja stood in silence as a strong gust of wind flew by them, picking up a few leaves with it.

"Fine, I'm only doing this out of curiosity, not because I believe you. Let's get that straight." Tsunade stated as she straightened her stance. "Lead the way."

Kakashi and Itachi nodded at each other before darting back to the Uchiha compound. They reached the house within a few minutes before Itachi lead them to his room.

He noticed that Sasuke had left with the plate of snacks, but Sakura's father, Kizashi, and Mikoto were there in his place.

"Oh, one of the legendary Sanin." Mikoto spoke as she noticed Itachi.

"I apologise for the spontaneity, but could we-" Itachi started to ask as Kizashi stood up.

"We'll be in the kitchen if you need us." Kizashi spoke before waiting for Mikoto to lead him out of the room. Itachi stood still in confusion for a moment.

"The Haruno's are particularly perceptive." Kakashi spoke, leading Tsunade over to Sakura. She examined Sakura briefly before scoffing.

"What's her name?" Tsunade questioned. Shizune stood by Tsunade's side and examined Sakura too.

"Sakura Haruno." Kakashi answered.

"I've never seen her in my life." Tsunade sharply responded as she subconsciously analysed Sakura's status. "However," She spoke to herself as she placed her hand on her forehead, emitting a soft green glow. "Her body demonstrates traits that are not common at all…" She furrowed her eyebrows. "This is exactly what I do with my body when I'm unconscious…she has spied on me."

Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"She hasn't seen you in this life yet." Kakashi started, confusing Tsunade. "You trained her in the past future."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsunade barked.

"Touch the necklace around her neck." Itachi instructed. Tsunade looked at him for a moment before pulling out a necklace by the strings from Sakura's neck.

"There is dangerous chakra contained inside the necklace." Tsunade spoke. "It is extremely foreign." She spoke out loud before holding the necklace by the crystal heart.

The room fell completely silent as Tsunade's eyes flitted from left to right.

"What the hell?" Tsunade spoke as she dropped the necklace.

"Are you okay Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked instantly. Tsunade nodded slowly before looking at Itachi and Kakashi.

"How?" she asked, her face lighting up slightly. "Both of you know too?"

"Yes." Itachi spoke. Shizune crossed her arms impatiently.

"Okay, well. I'll help Sakura regain her chakra levels quicker. But she will still be out for at least a day. She probably isn't used to her available chakra being as low as it is." Tsunade spoke as she hovered one hand over Sakura's head and one over her stomach.

"Who is she, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune questioned as she looked at what Tsunade was doing.

"I'll tell you later, Shizune." Tsunade responded as she continued to transfer some of her chakra into Sakura's system.

"So now you understand the predicament we're in." Kakashi spoke, Tsunade nodded slowly.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole…situation." Tsunade voiced softly before removing her hands. "Even though Sakura is young now, her body had automatically started to adapt to what she knows. I guess the fact she is so young, amplifies her skill and understanding."

"I suggest that you tell the third that you had a brief encounter with Sakura a week ago, and you acquired an interest in her, making you write up what you know about medical jutsu and chakra control and giving it to her before you left to…wherever." Kakashi proposed. Tsunade nodded.

Fugaku entered the room a moment later.

"What an honour it is to have one of the Legendary Sanin in our home." He spoke with a slight bit of sarcasm. "How is she?" He questioned as he looked over at Sakura. Itachi narrowed his eyes at him in attempts to look into his mind…but he couldn't read into his fathers' face at all.

"Sakura is fine. She just needs a day rest. Nothing life-threatening." Tsunade responded robotically.

"Are you sure? She managed to completely remove Sasuke's 3rd degree burns. Surely that has to severely affect her system, especially seeing that she's so young."

"I'm certain. Her body is subconsciously healing as we speak. Sakura is in a good condition."

Fugaku smirked before nodding his head at Tsunade.

"I'm glad to hear it." He left the room on those words, making Itachi shuffle slightly.

"Alright, well I'll leave with Shizune and book in at the hotel to write up some notes on a scroll. Then I'll travel to the Hokage tower in the morning to speak with Sarutobi." Tsunade informed as she left the room, Shizune hesitantly followed behind her.

"I don't like how my Father is acting…" Itachi voiced his thoughts out loud. "However, my plan is working…so for now I will dismiss his behaviour."

Kakashi nodded before sitting down on the bed.

Mikoto and Kizashi entered the room moments later.

"Is everything okay?" Mikoto asked. Kizashi glared down at Kakashi who was tending to Sakura.

"Everything is good. Tsunade gave Sakura treatment and she will be conscious again within a day." Itachi answered. Mikoto let out a sigh of relief.

"As I said before. Your daughter is incredible. You saw how Sasuke looked when you walked in earlier. Before Sakura healed him, he looked…terrible." Mikoto repeated as Kizashi smiled.

"She is incredibly talented. I wouldn't expect anything less." He spoke as he placed his hand on Sakura's cheek.

* * *

 _A/N: It's about to get interesting ;D Thank you for reading!_


	7. Protection

As it hit 3am Itachi was struggling to fight sleep. He was sitting on the chair next to his bed. Sakura's soft breathing was soothing to Itachi, but it also made it hard for him to remain alert.

"Itachi." A firm voice spoke, almost making Itachi jump.

"Yep?" he answered sleepily.

"Go to the guest room and sleep, I'll keep a watch on Sakura."

"Okay." Itachi didn't even look at the man he spoke to as he walked off to the guest room to rest.

…

"Itachi? Wake up. You're going to be late for the meeting." Mikoto spoke as she set a plate with plain toast on the bedside.

"Oh…right. Sakura?" Itachi tried to form a sentence. However, his tiredness forced out the words he wanted to use in his question.

"Sakura's already at school, so don't worry about her." Mikoto smiled before leaving the room.

"I'm surprised she's already up and about." Itachi muttered to himself while he got himself spruced up.

He replaced his ANBU gear with a formal/casual outfit. He wore thick black jeans with a long red jumper. It took him a moment to find a new hairband and tie his hair up. He grabbed his piece of toast before heading out the house. As he headed to the Hokage tower he saw Tsunade in a heated argument with Shizune. Luckily for the two of them, there were barely any civilians around.

"-believe what some grey-haired kid says anyway?!" Shizune hissed as she flicked her hair back. Itachi threw the toast slice to the side before approaching the ladies.

"Can I help you two?" Itachi spoke, intervening with the situation.

"Yeah, actually, I want to go to _Sakura_ and see what the deal is about this necklace she wears around her neck." Shizune responded, crossing her arms and puffing her chest out.

"I'll take you there myself, after we have our meeting. Sakura is currently at school. By the time the meeting is finished it will be break for her. We'll see her then, as long as you don't mess the meeting up." Itachi responded.

Shizune uncrossed her arms and nodded in agreement.

"And you can't say anything afterwards, otherwise it will cause issues…Just like it seems to have done now." Itachi continued as he escorted the two into the building.

"This way please." Sarutobi said after he saw the three ninja. "Kakashi and the others are inside." He continued.

"It's good to see you." Tsunade spoke with a smile on her face. Sarutobi returned the smile as he held the door open. The three entered the room and sat down on the empty seats. Sarutobi entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"So, I've had a little trouble understanding a certain pink-haired girl. I'm sure you'll know who I mean." Sarutobi stood by the window and straightened his stance.

"Ah, yes. Surely you'll be talking about Sakura." Tsunade responded Naturally. "She's quite talented, wouldn't you agree?"

"So, you know her personally?" He turned on the spot and looked at Tsunade straight in her eyes.

"I do. I bumped into her a week ago." Tsunade responded, unfazed at the Hokage's glare.

"Where?"

"Well, Shizune and I were searching for new herbs and found ourselves on the fire border. Sakura, at the time, was practicing her taijutsu. I asked her what she was doing and where she was from. Her eyes lit up when she found out that I was one of the legendary Sanin."

"Okay, have you produced a book?"

"No."

"Sakura said that she read about your techniques in a book."

"That's probably a misconception on her part. I wrote up the techniques we practiced in a scroll and handed it to her before she went home."

"You taught a nine-year-old Jonin level techniques?" Sarutobi's voice quivered at the end of his sentence in disbelief.

"Yes, she seemed quite adept. She caught on quite fast."

"How fast?"

"It would take her a few times to get a certain technique done properly, but faster than I'd expect for a nine-year-old."

"Did you know how old she was when you saw her?"

"No. She told me before she left."

"Right…" Sarutobi stopped firing his questions before pacing around the room.

"Okay, so, was Shizune with you when you trained Sakura?"

"No. Shizune continued searching for new herbs."

"How long were you with Sakura for?"

"From 9AM to 6PM." Tsunade didn't flinch during her responses in attempts to make them realistic and believable.

"Kakashi," Sarutobi said as he stopped pacing.

"Yes, Hokage?"

"I'd like you to go to the school and collect the register. Itachi," He continued. "I want you to collect the list of people who've entered and exited the village from Kotetsu."

Itachi and Kakashi nodded before leaving the room.

' _We're going to have to think of a day so that things don't look suspicious.'_ Itachi thought inwardly.

"What day?" Kakashi asked, as if to answer what Itachi was thinking. "I can handle Iruka."

"Tuesday." Itachi confirmed before darting towards the leaf villages entrance.

"Oh, hello Itachi." Kotetsu bored while propping his head up with his hands.

"Izumo not with you today?" Itachi questioned. Kotetsu nodded lazily.

"He's sick today, some sort of virus or something like that. Is there something you'd like to ask him?" Kotetsu said before yawning.

"Izumo told me that he left a package for me under the desk." Itachi lied. Kotetsu sighed before bending down to search for a package addressed to Itachi.

Itachi wasted no time in using the rubber on the end of a pencil to remove a random person's name before replacing it with Sakura's, making sure to copy the handwriting. He then rushed to rub out and pencil in the given times and day before setting the pencil back down in place inaudibly.

Itachi didn't realise how fast his heart was beating until he stood back.

"I'm afraid there's nothing here for you, although I have this for your father," Kotetsu informed as he waved a thin envelope in front of himself. "I can trust you can give it to him." Kotetsu passed Itachi the letter before leaning onto his hands again. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, the Hokage would like the list of shinobi entering and exiting the village." Itachi responded as he put the letter into his pocket. Kotetsu picked up the sheet from the table before handing it over to him.

"Anything else?"

"That will be all." Itachi replied before running back to the Hokage tower.

It took him no more than one minute to reach the building. He entered the room and saw that the other ninja had left, it was only Tsunade, Shizune and the Hokage.

"Here you go." Itachi spoke as he handed the piece of paper over.

"Ah, thank you. Kakashi should be back soon too." Sarutobi muttered off as he examined the piece of paper.

A few moments later, Kakashi walked into the room with a small folder, holding it out in his direction.

"Thank you, Kakashi." The Hokage spoke as he put the piece of paper down and grabbed the folder.

An intense silence hit the room instantly as the Hokage flicked through the pages.

"Okay, so all is accounted for…" Sarutobi stated, before setting the folder down. "You're all dismissed. Thank you for your time this morning." Sarutobi smiled as the four exited the room.

"Now, we're going to the school." Shizune said after clearing her throat.

"Yes, but keep your voice down." Tsunade spoke.

"Why are we going to the school?" Kakashi questioned.

"To see Sakura." Itachi answered bluntly.

"She's absent today, I thought you would have known that, Itachi?" Kakashi responded, unsure on what was going on.

"What? Not at school?" Itachi's heart started to race.

"Yeah. Iruka said that she never showed up…isn't she still resting in bed?" Kakashi asked, becoming worried.

"Follow me." Itachi said, darting in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Itachi noticed that the streets seemed eerily emptier than usual before entering his house. "Mother, did you see Sakura leave the house?"

Mikoto turned her head around to see the four ninja standing in the doorway.

"Oh, uh." Mikoto put the plate back into the sink before turning herself to face him. "No, Fugaku told me that Sakura walked off on her own to school, why?"

Itachi's head throbbed in stress as he shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just making sure." Itachi dismissed the question as he glanced at Kakashi.

"Do you know where Fugaku is?" Kakashi spoke. Mikoto leaned on her side and rubbed her neck as she tried to think.

"No I don't I'm afraid. He left saying that he had business to tend to about an hour ago." Mikoto responded before returning to the dishes.

The four ninja walked out of the house.

It took a while for all the information to sink in.

"You don't think that he took Sakura, do you?" Tsunade spoke, finally breaking the silence. Shizune shuffled around uncomfortably, itching to say something.

"If he has…Sakura is in major trouble." Itachi replied, staring at Kakashi.

"What should we do?" Kakashi spoke, his voice shaking slightly.

"Ugh! I don't see why-!" Shizune started before Tsunade suddenly knocked her out by pressing on one of her pressure points.

"I'll leave her in the hotel and remove some of her memory temporarily. I just remembered a trick that I picked up from the Yamanaka clan before the war." Tsunade said as she caught Shizune's body. "Don't do anything without me, otherwise I'll beat the crap out of you…." Tsunade threatened as she left the scene in a rush, leaving the two shinobi by themselves.

"Kakashi. Sakura is in big trouble. Obito is here." Itachi repeated, making Kakashi widen his eye.

"Obito is here?" He questioned, Itachi nodded.

"Obito helped me kill the clan before. I'm sure he will take a big interest in Sakura if Fugaku brought her to him."

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter! I hope you enjoy! (I'll go through spelling/grammatical mistakes later)_


	8. Parcel

"Okay…where would he be?" Tsunade asked as soon as she joined the two ninja near the entrance of the Uchiha compound.

"I don't know," Kakashi sighed. Itachi hesitated before removing a letter from his pocket. He turned around before flashing it to the two shinobi.

"This is addressed to my father." Itachi paused for a moment before he decided to open it and read the letter. "Hn…How convenient." Itachi smirked before scrunching up the piece of paper and setting it alight.

"What's going on? What did it say?" Tsunade spoke up, worry lacing her tone for her former student. Itachi sighed deeply before facing Kakashi.

"You remember the place the Akatsuki extracted the one tail?" Itachi questioned. Kakashi sighed and nodded back.

"If he set off an hour ago, we can easily catch up to him before he reaches the border. What did the letter say?" Kakashi responded.

"They want to experiment on her body…much like they did with Gaara of the sand. They believe that Sakura has a Jinchuuriki inside of her…" Itachi bored on, furrowing is eyebrows. Kakashi chuckled slightly. Itachi shot a glare in his direction. "It's not funny."

"Sorry…but I'm laughing at the stupidity of the implication that Sakura has a demon inside her." Kakashi defended himself as he held his hands up, making Tsunade smirk.

"It seems as if you do not understand the severity of this situation, Kakashi. Before we extracted the Jinchuuriki from Gaara of the Sand…Obito tested his method on an extremely strong medic shinobi, he…His arms were amputated and his legs were grossly deformed. His face was smashed in to the point where he was still alive and breathing…it just didn't look right."

Silence crossed the three ninja.

"No time to waste then." Kakashi said as he started running in the direction of the leaf villages exit.

"Wait, we can't go through the front entrance. We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves…I'll take you past a shortcut." Itachi spoke up before leading the way out of the village.

They ran into no one on their journey, and it only took them half an hour to reach the border.

"This doesn't seem right." Itachi stated. Kakashi looked around himself for a while after he stopped to stand on a branch. He found a weird orange swirl in a tree in the distance with a hole in the centre.

"Itachi," Kakashi questioned quietly, instantly gaining his attention. "What does Obito look like at the moment?"

Itachi followed Kakashi's line of sight.

"That's him there, he wears the orange mask…But don't go shouting his name out like you know who he is…I don't want to provoke him…He's ridiculously strong and our current bodies probably couldn't take him on." Itachi warned.

The orange swirl disappeared as Fugaku came into their sights, holding an unconscious Sakura over his shoulder.

"is Obito protecting them?" Tsunade asked. Itachi hesitantly nodded.

"How do we approach?" She continued, ready to attack on command.

"Smoke bomb and retrieve?" Itachi suggested. Kakashi nodded and rummaged around his bag.

"Take two and head to the opposite side of me, wait for my signal." Kakashi instructed. Tsunade nodded before picking up the bombs.

"Here." Kakashi said as he passed Itachi the other two bombs. "You may be quicker, but your hair will get in the way of this." He continued. Itachi stared at Kakashi for a short time before picking to the two bombs.

"I'm going to have to throw Sakura to you too." Kakashi said, making Itachi raise an eyebrow. "Optimum speed. I'll hit one of Fugaku's chakra points, take Sakura from him and I'll start running. When I can't run any faster with Sakura I'll throw her-" Kakashi was strategizing before he heard a female's voice. Kakashi lifted his headband in preparation.

"What the hell? Put me down whoever you are!" Sakura shouted as she woke up. Kakashi gave Tsunade the signal as both her and Itachi threw the smoke bombs in the best places they could be to create a thick blanket of white smoke. With a soft bang, the smoke bombs filled the area quickly.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree before swiftly picking Sakura up and knocking Fugaku down. Kakashi didn't waste a second to start running back in the direction of the leaf village as Fugaku was totally off-guard.

"Ka-?" Sakura started before Kakashi forced his hand over her mouth. Sakura licked and bit down on his hand in attempts to make him remove it, however he kept his hand on her mouth. Itachi appeared at Kakashi's side before nodding at him.

Itachi ran a bit further ahead and Kakashi inwardly apologised to Sakura as he threw her body forwards.

Itachi caught her body effortlessly and darted towards the shortcut. Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Itachi shoved his hand on her mouth just as quick.

"Just a little longer." Itachi murmured, a few moments later and Itachi passed through the shortcut with Tsunade and Kakashi close behind.

Itachi set Sakura on the ground before catching his breath. Tsunade and Kakashi had bent down and rested their hands on their legs, breathing heavily.

"Okay…um." Sakura started as she rubbed her head. "What just happened?"

"We should all rest in the hotel room and speak about our next move." Tsunade spoke. Sakura turned her head and widened her eyes for a brief moment.

"Oh…Ah! It's the great legendary-" Sakura started as she tensed up, raising her fists to her chest in fake excitement.

"She knows, Sakura." Kakashi laughed, causing Sakura to sigh in relief.

"Good, because I have no energy for acting…I need to create my soldier pills again…" Sakura muttered to herself.

"We'll explain everything when we get to the hotel room." Itachi answered Sakura's previous question before leading the three to Tsunade's hotel.

"SAKURA HARUNO! WHAT ARE YOU NOT DOING IN SCHOOL MISSY?!" Sakura flinched as her mother shouted into the Uchiha compound, earning a few glares from the passing civilians.

"Actually…We'll go to the hotel room to talk strategies. You should run along to school, little Sakura." Kakashi mocked, earning him a punch to his shoulder.

"I will see you after school and beat your ass Kakashi-sensei." Sakura hissed before running towards her mother.

"Sorry mother! I'm just on my way there now! I must've fallen asleep at the Uchiha compound…Actually…I should quickly go home and get changed." Sakura rushed as she passed her mum, not giving her a chance to speak before she sprinted home.

She tried to think about what just happened to her…one moment she was healing Sasuke…and the next thing she knows someone has taken her and she's been thrown around.

"What a crazy village…" Sakura shook off the weird feeling she had as she entered her house.

"Dad?" she panted, hoping not to hear anything. To her surprise, she heard footsteps that seemed to be coming from her room.

Sakura didn't hesitate to slip out of her shoes, and place them in their assigned place at the bottom of the stairs, before running up to her room. She rushed into her room and shut the door tight behind her.

"Who's in here?" Sakura shouted as she frantically looked around the room. She couldn't see anyone at all.

Sakura held her breath and used her chakra to enhance her hearing. After a minute, she let out her breath and greedily inhaled air.

"That's weird…I could've sworn I heard something." Sakura muttered to herself as she walked to her wardrobe.

She stared for a while before picking up some red baggy jogging bottoms and a white tank top with the Haruno symbol in red on the back. Sakura rushed to get changed. She threw her old kimono away and set Naruto's Jacket on her bed.

"I can give this back to Naruto today." She breathed as she walked to her full-sized mirror on the wall.

Sakura took a moment to admire herself.

"I think I'll use some shinobi wraps from my ankles to my shins." Sakura continued to speak to herself as she picked up grey wraps before wrapping them firmly around her leg, from her shin down to her ankle.

She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror again.

"Nice…though, I definitely liked my hair better when it was shorter." Sakura reached over her bed to grab a Kunai from the window ledge before walking to her desk. She took a deep breath before she cut her hair, recalling all the times Ino had shown her how to maintain her short hair easily.

Sakura walked back over to the mirror and smiled.

"Yep! And I look cuter too…" Sakura murmured as she binned the excess hair.

She reached out to her standard grey armbands and fitted them swiftly as she noticed a light reflect in the mirror. She involuntarily flinched before she held the kunai tight in her hand while she spun around to face her bed.

"Who are you! Urgh! I know you're under my bed!" Sakura shrieked as she took a step back.

A deep chuckle was heard before a grey-haired man exited from under the bed, he crawled out like a spider, making Sakura shiver.

"You got me." He said as he held his hands up.

' _Kabuto?!_ ' Sakura thought as she suspiciously eyed him up.

"Why are you perving on me. I'm nine years old. Pervert." Sakura crossed her arms and looks down her nose at him while raising her head back.

"I'm not here to perv on you…Hasn't the Hokage told you? He's entering you into the Chunin exams. I'm to be your partner along with my friend, who is yet to return from his mission." Kabuto spoke, smirking at Sakura.

Sakura's stance relaxed as her eyes widened.

"Chunin exams? But he's only seen me fight once, and I've not yet gone on a mission…why would he want to put me forward?" Sakura questioned gingerly.

"Iruka nominated you. Plus, it's recommendation, not how many missions you've been on…Jeesh girl, you know nothing." Kabuto poked his glasses back up his nose before chuckling.

"What are you so smug about?" Sakura spat, causing Kabuto to chuckle more.

"It's just that I am at more of an advantage than you are. I know your name and what you study." Kabuto started. Sakura smirked before clearing her throat.

"Oh sure, Kabuto, I am at a huge disadvantage." Sakura giggled, making him flinch. She raised her arm up slightly before playing about with the kunai in her hand. "Oh, and I'm highly unaware of your medical jutsu. I know a few more things too but for now I'll keep it to myself." Sakura poked her tongue out and winked playfully, liking the heavy atmosphere she was creating. "Now if there is nothing more you want to say, I suggest you leave before I beat you up for trespassing."

"Sakura," Kabuto narrowed his eyes before drawing his head back and looking down at the necklace that hung around her neck. "Who gave you that necklace?"

Sakura looked down and picked the necklace up in her hand, the dark smoke like substance seemed to be lighter than usual. Sakura quickly hid her necklace under her shirt.

"I don't see why I should tell you." Sakura eventually responded before she looked back up at Kabuto.

"Fine." Kabuto huffed before walking to Sakura's window. "I'm also hear to collect you, the Hokage requests that we get to know each other and trade skills. He believes that we will benefit from each other…I'll meet you at the Hokage tower, don't you worry about school." Kabuto finished before leaving the room.

"Crap." Sakura whispered to herself as she placed her kunai down on the desk. "On a team with that asshole? And the Chunin exams…I'll have to start training my chakra levels and stamina if I want to stand a chance in there…And how do I go about Mr. Snake guy…" Sakura sighed as a huge new weight had landed on her shoulders.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! I'll be drawing a chibi version of Sakura's current outfit as she'll be wearing it for some time here on out :) just to give you an image of what I mean. I hope you enjoyed and please review!_

ty7HrhDcBzM

^ put that at the end of the youtube search to find the Speedpainting to the new cover of the story (+Sakura's main outfit for a while)


	9. Perplexed

"I wonder why Kabuto is in the village…was he here before?" Sakura mumbled to herself while fitting her signature black leather gloves on her hands. The were a loose fit, so she rolled the bottom of the glove up once. "…I've come to realise just how difficult this situation is…and how much I've screwed up already…ugh." Sakura sighed, feeling a sudden weight fall on her shoulders.

Sakura sighed again before picking up Naruto's jacket. She headed out of the house the same way as Kabuto did. She then started to walk towards the hokage tower.

"Sakura, there you are." Kakashi suddenly appeared next Sakura, almost scaring the life out of her.

"Here I am." Sakura replied reluctantly, keeping a fixed gaze on the tower.

"We have a plan," Kakashi continued, not noticing Sakura's dark mood. "You might not like it…" he paused at the end of his sentence.

"What is it?" Sakura prompted, becoming impatient. Kakashi raised a brow but continued on.

"Itachi and I are going join the akatsuki." Sakura stopped in her tracks instantly before glaring at Kakashi.

"What are you, stupid?" Sakura hissed as she narrowed her eyes further.

"It only makes sense, having two people on the inside will be beneficial, and Itachi and I can act as two double agents, plus it gets rid of the whole Fugaku problem..." Kakashi continued, with a very blank face.

Sakura gritted her teeth before pulling Kakashi down to her height by his collar.

"I don't want Sasuke to live in a world of pain. I've already compromised team seven because I wanted to show off so huge ripples have already been made." Sakura whispered at him, making sure that none of the civilians looking over could hear her.

"Unfortunately, it's not all about Sasuke." Kakashi responded, daring to look Sakura straight in the eye.

"I dare you to say that again." Sakura growled, making Kakashi smirk behind his mask.

"It's not all about Sasuke." Kakashi repeated. Sakura pulled Kakashi closer to her and scrunched her face up.

"You're not even worth it." Sakura hissed before letting go of Kakashi. He stumbled to his feet and quietly coughed.

"You must know already how dangerous this whole thing is…I have a feeling that bad things will happen if the Uchiha clan were left alive…Itachi's plan didn't work at all, so they're still thinking about attacking the leaf village." Kakashi explained.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi briefly before walking off again.

"Maybe that's because Itachi is a traitor and his intention was to kill the uchiha clan again, with Sasuke too."

"Sakura," Kakashi started. "Itachi was ordered by the hokage to assassinate the village…before and now, today actually, the hokage gave the orders to him this morning which has to be carried out by night time…If I do this with him then-"

"Then you'll create a whole new Naruto and Sasuke…or are they MY problem now?" Sakura interrupted as they reached the gates to the tower.

"Sakura…" Kakashi sighed. "I pushed Iruka to nominate you for the chunin exams, which aren't for a few months yet…that means that you need to complete some missions and become even stronger for your former teammates…Once you become Chunin I'd like you to put yourself straight forward to the jonin exams. Once you pass that you can request to become a sensei…You will get team 7 if you do."

Sakura stopped walking again as flashbacks of Haku and Zabuza raced across her mind. Sure enough, Sakura was strong...but to be in place of Kakashi terrified Sakura.

"I don't think I'm ready for that…" Sakura replied, trying to shake her thoughts away.

"Not yet. But you know just as well as I do that you just need to get your chakra levels high again and get your stamina back to normal and you're as good as new…plus." Kakashi said before poking at Sakura's forehead. "I can tell you're already subconsciously storing chakra up there. You'll be fine, Sakura."

"…Do you know who my team are going to be for the Chunin exams?" Sakura tried Kakashi, however he was clueless so he shook his head. "Kabuto and another shinobi…In fact," Sakura started to walk again. "He was in my house earlier."

Kakashi's eye widened before he sighed.

"It will all work out in the end…just make sure you don't let anyone touch that necklace, especially Kabuto." Kakashi lowered his voice as he spoke. Sakura frowned.

"I'll be all by myself…" Sakura muttered her thoughts aloud, causing Kakashi to frown too.

"You have Tsunade…She's already set herself up to replace Sarutobi." Sakura shot him a glare as soon as he said this. "When he retires…Obviously, I'm not going to let Orochimaru kill him." Kakashi whispered as they turned the corner to see Kabuto waiting there.

"It seems as if our other comrade has fallen in battle. We won't be able to enter the Chunin exams." Kabuto stated freely as he poked his glasses up his nose.

"Then we just find another shinobi." Sakura spoke bluntly before walking into the Hokage's office. Kakashi chuckled at her attitude as he walked in after her.

"Ah, Sakura. Based on our current knowledge and your skill level. We've decided that we're going to enrol you in the Chunin exams this year." The hokage spoke. Sakura nodded slightly. "I'd like you to get acquainted with Kabuto for 2-3 hours, then I ask that you return here to receive your first mission."

"Can I request that I visit the school briefly before I leave?" Sakura asked a few moments after the hokage spoke.

"You are to go there regardless. You still have to pass the basic test there." He replied, Sakura bowed slightly before leaving the room, she couldn't bare looking at Kakashi as she passed him. She almost bumped into Kabuto as he was standing right outside the door.

"I trust you heard what was said." Sakura spoke before walking in the direction of the school. "Follow me."

Kabuto scoffed as he reluctantly followed the girl.

"You're going to get yourself into trouble if you run your mouth like that." Kabuto chuckled.

"I can handle myself." Sakura responded, feeling on edge.

It took them moments before they reached the school. The grounds were completely empty.

"Don't be too long kid." Kabuto waited by the gates, pulling out a deck of cards.

"You won't be getting any information about me, Kabuto. When your back is turned, I'll erase that Data." Sakura said at a volume so he could hear just before she entered the building.

Sakura's heartbeat started to slow down as she heard her old class laugh. Probably at something stupid that Naruto did.

"Okay, Naruto, this is your last chance," Iruka said as he kept his anger in. Naruto scratched the back of his head as Sakura entered the classroom. The classroom feel completely silent.

"This is yours." Sakura spoke, holding out Naruto's jacket. Naruto grinned and swiftly took the jacket from her.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" he threw his jacket on and raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you going to your seat? And when did you cut your hair?"

Ino chuckled at Sakura's new hairstyle, however Sakura just ignored her.

"This is the perfect opportunity to show you all what you'll be going through in 3 years' time." Iruka spoke to the class, making Sakura feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Um…I thought the test was a closed…" Sakura started.

"Exceptions have been made." Iruka interjected as he shooed Naruto to his seat. Iruka then walked back to his desk and opened the top drawer. "Unfortunately, the only headband we have left over from the last years' test is red…" He continued to speak as he picked the headband up and placed it on top of his desk. "All you are required to do is to produce 4 clones and use a henge on all of them." Iruka finished before straightening his stance.

Sakura stood still for a moment before walking to the middle of the classroom. Sakura took a moment to calm herself. She easily summoned 9 extra clones and successfully used the henge to change them all into Iruka.

"Whoa! That's a lot of clones!" Kiba shouted out as a few people in the room started to talk to each other in awe.

"Congratulations. You're now a fully-fledged shinobi." Iruka said as he handed Sakura the headband.

"Isn't my intelligence going to be tested?" Sakura asked before releasing all the jutsu's. She swiftly tied the band over her forehead.

"No need. There's enough paperwork here to prove your intelligence." Iruka answered simply. Sakura looked at the rest of her class before her eyes landed on Sasuke.

He was glaring at her, which made her smirk. She knew that during the next 3 years she wouldn't have much contact with Sasuke, but she wanted to set up a domino effect to make Sasuke stronger.

"Guess this means I'm stronger than you." Sakura poked her tongue out at Sasuke, and instead of his usual anger seething from his entire body, he smirked.

 _'_ _That's odd'_ she thought to herself before walking to the exit.

"I'll make you proud, Iruka-Sensei."

"I know you will." He replied.

She hesitantly left the school and saw Kabuto still waiting by the gates.

"Took your time." Kabuto hissed. Sakura simply stood in front of him and stared at his face.

"Want to get your ass beat by me, so you can fill one of your little cards in?" Sakura suggested. Kabuto smirked before crossing his arms and bending to Sakura's height.

"I'd gladly fight you, however, I can't fight on an empty stomach." Kabuto smiled sarcastically at Sakura before heading over to the streets.

"The restaurants are that way." Sakura said while pointing in the opposite direction.

"I know, I'd like to show you my house." Kabuto retorted, making Sakura tense up.

"Like hell am I going in some pervert's house." Sakura scoffed, her words hitting Kabuto like a wet fish.

"I have a vast collection of foreign herbs." Kabuto continued, gaining Sakura's full attention.

"Fine…" Sakura started. "Can I use some of them? There's something I want to create." Sakura questioned, causing Kabuto to raise his eyebrow.

"If it's something beneficial, I'd like you to share your knowledge with me. That's the condition." Kabuto replied.

"Okay, deal." Sakura said as she nodded her head.

It took the two ninja three minutes to reach a relatively clean house.

"Welcome to my home." Kabuto spoke as he held the door open for Sakura.

The smell of mint and lemon invaded Sakura's senses as her eyes widened.

"Wow! What a collection!" Sakura walked off to look at the different types of herbs.

"So, what is it that you want to create…I can help you." Kabuto spoke while he put a white coat on over his gear, giving him an intimidatingly familiar look.

"I've want to create my own version of the standard Solider pill. Where the villages soldier pill has the body completely exhausted after three days from the effects, my version is more of a temporary boost, making the pill safer to consume and the body being unaffected," Sakura said while gathering a few herbs. "However, the only down fall is that they taste horrendous." Sakura sighed as she naturally got on with making the pills.

"Might I suggest this?" Kabuto said, bringing a blue leaved plant forwards. "It has an extremely strong flavour of mint, and not only does it make you feel refreshed, it also boosts your maximum speed permanently…but only slightly." Kabuto handed her over 5 leaves.

"I'm such an idiot not to have thought of that…" Sakura grumbled to herself as she took the leaves and grinded them up.

"What's gotten you into Medical jutsu so early?" Kabuto asked, Sakura tensed up slightly as she tried to think of a reason.

"Um…Well I accidently got hurt by someone that I love and I didn't like the pain." Sakura lied, Kabuto seemed to believe it though.

"You seem to be a natural. How long have you made medicine for?" He commented while Sakura was rapidly forming soldier pill after soldier pill with ease.

"6 years…secretly though." Sakura hesitated before taking out a plastic bag from her pouch. She put all fifty of the pills in the bag before sealing the bag shut with a string.

"A chakra coated bag too…You are very advanced for your age." Kabuto noted as he raised his eyebrows.

"I aspire to be as good as the Legendary Sanin." Sakura spoke without hesitation.

Curiosity overwhelmed Kabuto as he started to analyse her movements and personality.

"The Legendary Sanin are quite strong indeed." He agreed before leading Sakura to the kitchen. "I'll make us a quick chilli, and then we'll go to the training grounds."

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! 3_


	10. Prententious

Kabuto and Sakura reached the training grounds after finishing of their food. Kabuto was being quite friendly towards Sakura however, she knew different than to trust him. She thought that her best plan of action is to make it out like she knows nothing more than Kabuto's name and specialty.

"Okay," Kabuto stretched out before taking his place on the training ground. "I'll be a gentleman and allow you to make the first hit."

"You sure? You might just regret saying that." Sakura retorted as she clicked her neck. Sakura placed herself a few feet away from Kabuto.

He nodded confidently as he straightened his stance.

Sakura wasted no time in darting towards Kabuto, rearing her fist to punch him. Kabuto seemed to disappear. Sakura quickly analysed her surroundings as she turned around. She couldn't see him anywhere so she decided to punch the ground.

Unsurprisingly to Sakura, Kabuto was hidden underground. The rubble flew wildly as Sakura ran towards Kabuto again, preparing another punch.

Kabuto gritted his teeth before jumping out the way. Sakura started her barrage of punches and kicks, which Kabuto barely dodged.

Without realising, Sakura changed her punches into swipes as she infused her hand with chakra, making them into scalpel blades.

"What!?" Kabuto grunted in confusion as Sakura was using an attack he'd only recently made up. Deciding to get serious, Kabuto infused his palm with chakra as he grabbed Sakura's wrist. He swiftly hit Sakura's chest, making her cough for breath.

"Ugh…" Sakura muttered out loud, her body already trying to negate Kabuto's physical attack to her lungs.

"Where did you learn that? That's my technique." Kabuto questioned. Sakura's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't think of an excuse.

"Alright. I guess it's time I introduced myself to you." A new shinobi behind an ANBU mask, resembling a cat, entered the field. "I suggest you let the little lady go." She spoke. Kabuto reluctantly complied and Sakura stumbled back slightly while letting out a huge sigh of relief.

"I don't recognise you." Kabuto spoke. Sakura looked at Kabuto's stern expression briefly before following his line of sight.

"Yeah…come to think of it. I've never seen you in the ANBU task force." Sakura agreed. The lady behind the mask giggled before holding her hands up in defeat.

"It's true, I'm not a member of the ANBU." She confirmed.

"Then why do you have the ANBU mark branded on your arm?" Kabuto continued to question.

"I like to pretend…Plus, it's easy to use your chakra to make permanent marks once you know how it's done." She replied. Sakura held her hands on her hips.

"Isn't that...Like illegal or something?" Sakura cautiously asked, not sure the laws on faking belonging to a faction.

"Nope. If anything, I'm just a bigger target for enemies, they think I'm ANBU and I get a better challenge." She replied nonchalantly while walking closer to the two. Sakura started to remember things of this ninja…but she couldn't quite think of where she saw this kunoichi in her previous life.

"What rank are you?" Kabuto questioned further before the lady reached him.

"Genin, I'm to be a part of your team in the Chunin Exams." She started before removing her mask to reveal bright green eyes, rivalling Sakura's own. "You can call me Haiyaku."

Sakura frowned as the memory returned to her thoughts. Sakura had to try and save this ninja with Tsunade before during her training as she had fallen in battle.

 _A new shinobi entered the hospital on a bed. The medics, including Shizune, were rushing her to the room Sakura and Tsunade was in._

 _"_ _Tsunade!" Shizune spoke loud, snapping the two's attention onto her. "Haiyaku encountered the Akatsuki, and she is dying and I-" tears were spilling down Shizune's pale face._

 _"_ _Leave it to me. Come, Sakura." Tsunade interrupted before moving the bed in between her and Sakura. the other medics left the room. "You should leave too, Shizune." Tsunade continued. Shizune nodded before slowly leaving the room. "Okay." Tsunade said as she hovered her hands over Haiyaku's body. "She's sustained quite a lot of poison damage, and burns…this will be very difficult but it's possible." Tsunade started to mutter off to herself._

 _"_ _Sakura, I'd like you to get me a bowl of sterilised water and an empty bowl, now." Tsunade ordered. Sakura complied instantly before rushing to get the required items._

 _"_ _It's useless, Tsunade-sama." Haiyaku sputtered. Tsunade looked down at her with a fierce expression._

 _"_ _Don't speak, you're only going to accelerate your death."_

 _"_ _It's okay, I know when nothing can be done…and in this case, nothing can be. You know that yourself Tsunade." She continues, blood pouring down the sides of her mouth. "I was told that I only had three days to live and I'm on my fourth…this poison is beyond even myself…so this is inevitable." Tsunade stopped healing Haiyaku._

 _"_ _Lady Tsunade?!" Sakura spoke aloud. Tsunade shot a glare in her direction, making Sakura flinch._

 _"_ _I have a bit of information for you though, before I pass." Haiyaku said before erupting in a fit of coughing, blood coming out from every wound that was on her body. "The Akatsuki are planning to attack soon…and Kabuto has some sort of link to them…That's all I found out." She said before tears formed in her eyes. "God, I wish I was stronger…I wish I could've found out more…to see Kakashi one last time." Haiyaku muttered before life started to escape her face. "I'm…Sorry I failed you."_

 _"_ _You didn't!" Tsunade barked just after Haiyaku died. Sakura stood in silence as Tsunade tensed up._

 _"_ _I heard that someone collected intel on the Akatsuki…Anything I can benefit from?" Kakashi suddenly spoke as he walked into the room. An overwhelming feeling of sadness hit Sakura as she rushed over to Haiyaku to close her eyes._

 _"_ _Oh." Kakashi spoke, making Tsunade's eyes grow red._

 _"_ _Do you know this woman, Kakashi?" Sakura questioned. Kakashi nodded slightly before walking to the bed._

 _"_ _We did a few missions together…before I became a sensei." Kakashi replied taking in the view. Sakura frowned as she started to cry for Haiyaku._

 _'_ _Her last wish was to see Kakashi…but he didn't come on time…as usual_ ' Sakura thought to herself, subconsciously frowning at her thought.

"Okay…Haiyaku," Kabuto spoke, snapping Sakura out of her daydream. "We were in the middle of training."

"Actually, the Hokage sent me here to collect you both, we have a mission to tend to." Haiyaku spoke as she attached her ANBU mask on the back of her pouch. "No time to waste, he's quite impatient at the moment. We can learn about each other as we carry out the mission."

She darted off in the direction of the Hokage tower, Sakura following close behind. Kabuto hesitated before going after the two.

"So, I've heard that you're quite the talented young kunoichi." Haiyaku started to make conversation, making Sakura's heart feel warm.

"Yeah, I take a lot of interest in Tsunade's teachings. I've trained very hard to reach this point…How about you? What kind of jutsu's can you do?" Sakura questioned back, genuinely wanting to know what her new teammate was capable of.

"Well. I trained under a highly skilled Poison specialist. So, I can concoct the deadliest of poisons within seconds, I like to fight with my two swords here." She spoke as she used her two thumbs to point at the swords on her back. "And I have a little interest in puppet jutsu…I'm not good at it though, at best I can attach strings to my enemy and make them move slightly." Haiyaku spoke on. Kabuto didn't care to listen to what she was saying.

"Poison specialist? You couldn't mean Shizune, could you?" Sakura spoke, again not putting a filter to the amount of knowledge she has.

Haiyaku raised an eyebrow at Sakura.

"You're correct. I'm surprised you know of her." Haiyaku spoke as she looked over at Sakura suspiciously.

"Hey! You gonna pay for my stock you just ruined?!" A shop owner shouted after the three ninja just after Haiyaku had accidentally knocked over a stand of fresh fruit.

"Oh jeez…I'm sorry mister." Haiyaku spoke as she picked up the fruit that had fallen on the ground. She rushed to place the fruit in the correct places but it was taking a long time, making Kabuto sigh with impatience.

"Let me help you." Kakashi spoke as he'd walked onto the scene with Itachi. Sakura eagerly waited for Kakashi to recognise the girl he was helping but he didn't look up once to see Haiyaku.

"Ah, Thank you very much! I can be a bit clumsy." Haiyaku spoke, her voice shaking audibly. Sakura frowned before walking over to Kakashi and Haiyaku.

"This girl has an ANBU mask." Sakura spoke out loud, making Haiyaku flinch before covering Sakura's mouth.

"YEP! That's true, but I already told you that it was from the stool and that I'm not really a member of the ANBU task force." Haiyaku sang as she furrowed her brows and looked down at Sakura.

"You've got the ANBU symbol branded on your skin." Itachi stated monotonously. Kakashi finally took a look at Haiyaku and his eye wrinkled up in slight happiness.

"Oh! It's you Haiyaku." Kakashi spoke. Haiyaku's cheeks dusted themselves in a generous pink shade as she let Sakura go.

"Hi, Kakashi." She spoke sweetly. Sakura smiled and rested one of her hands on her hip before walking over to Itachi.

"Were you one of the members to attack her before?" Sakura whispered to him. Itachi merely looked down at her and shook his head.

"I don't recognise this woman." Itachi spoke loudly, causing Haiyaku to frown.

"I don't expect you to remember fully, Itachi, but I was in the same class as you…you just graduated early." Haiyaku stropped. Itachi showed no hints of regret with what he said as he brushed Haiyaku's comment off.

"We need to reach the tower. The Hokage is waiting for us." Kabuto snapped everyone's attention on him. Kabuto nearly flinched as Sakura, Itachi and Kakashi gave him a cold look. He gave them a glare back in defence.

"I'll see you later Kakashi! Maybe we could grab lunch once I return from my mission!" Haiyaku chirped before walking off. Kakashi sighed quietly before looking down at Sakura.

"I'll see you…later." Sakura spoke gloomily. She briefly glanced from Kakashi to Itachi before walking to her new team.

It took two minutes for them to reach the Hokage's office.

"Ah, you're finally here." The Hokage spoke as the three lined up in front of his desk. "This will be classified as a 'B' ranked mission." He informed before pulling out a scroll and reading from it. "I'd like you to visit the village hidden in the sand and deliver these weapons." He pointed to three hefty bag of weapons.

"The fact it's a B-ranked mission makes me slightly nervous…considering all of us here are Genin." Kabuto spoke out, making the Hokage hesitate slightly.

"I trust in your teams' ability to complete this mission safely." He replied calmly. "Once you're ready, I'd like you to leave the village as soon as possible. The weapons are to be delivered to the Kazekage." Haiyaku and Sakura nodded in agreement before walking over to the bags.

"This won't take us too long Geezer!" Haiyaku joked playfully before the three exited the Hokage's office.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please review :3_


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